GROUPS - two or more individuals who are connected by and within ● Size: How Large Is the Group?

social relationships.
● Two or more individuals - assortment of shapes and sizes, from
dyads (two members) and triads (three members) to huge
crowds.
● Who are connected? - social relations that link members to one
another.
● By and within social relationships - a group exists when some FIGURE 1.2 As groups Increase in size, the number of
type of bond links the members to one another and to the group relationships needed to link each member to every other
itself. member increases. Only one relationship is needed to
form a dyad (two members), but 3, 6, 10, and 15 relations
VARIETIES OF GROUP
are needed as groups increase in size from three to six
members. In even larger groups, the number of relations
needed to link all members to each other becomes so
great that some members are only linked indirectly to
each other.

● Interaction: What Do Members Do?

○ Task Interaction: The conjointly adjusted actions
of group members that pertain to the group’s
projects, tasks, and goals
○ Relationship Interaction (Socioemotional
Interaction) : The conjointly adjusted actions of
group members that relate to or influence the
nature and strength of the emotional and
● Primary Groups: deeper relationships/connections
interpersonal bonds within the group, including
● Social Groups: certain goals
both sustaining (social support, consideration) and
● Collective: certain reasons
undermining actions (criticism, conflict).
● Categories: Roles
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUP
● Interdependence: Do the Members Depend on Each
● Composition: Who Belongs to the Group? - The
Other? : Mutual dependence, as when one’s outcomes,
individuals who constitute a group.
actions, thoughts, feelings, and experiences are
● Boundaries: Who Does NOT Belong? OPEN GROUPS
influenced, to some degree, by other people.
vs CLOSED GROUPS

● Structure: How Is the Group Organized? :
○ Group Structure the organization of a group,
including the members, their interrelations, and
their interactions.
○ Role a socially shared set of behaviors,
characteristics, and responsibilities expected of
people who
○ occupy a particular position or type of position
within a group; by enacting roles, individuals
○ establish regular patterns of exchange with one
another that increase predictability and social
coordination.
○ Norm a consensual and often implicit standard
that describes what behaviors should and should
not be performed in a given context.
● Goals: What Is the Group’s Purpose?
● Origin: Founded or Formed?
○ Concocted groups are planned by individuals or
authorities outside of the group.
○ Founded groups are planned by one or more
individuals who remain within the group.
○ Circumstantial groups are emergent, unplanned
groups that arise when external, situational forces
set the stage for people to join together, often
temporarily, in a unified group.
○ Self-organizing groups emerge when interacting
individuals gradually align their activities in a
cooperative system of interdependence.
● Unity: How Cohesive Is the Group?
○ Group Cohesion: The solidarity or unity of a
group resulting from the development of strong
and mutual interpersonal bonds among members
and group-level forces that unify the group, such
as shared commitment to group goals and esprit
de corps.
 ● Entitativity: Does the Group Look Like a Group?
○ Entitativity: The apparent cohesiveness or unity
of an assemblage of individuals; the quality of
being a single entity rather than a set of
independent, unrelated individuals.
○ Essentialism:The belief that all things, including
individuals and groups, have a basic nature that
makes them what they are and distinguishes them
from other things; a thing’s essence is usually
inferred rather than directly observed and is
generally assumed to be relatively unchanging.
WHAT IS GROUP DYNAMICS?
GROUP DYNAMICS are the influential interpersonal processes that
occur in and between groups over time.
● dynamic comes from the Greek dynamikós, which means to be
strong, powerful, and energetic.
● Dynamic implies the influence of forces that combine, sometimes
smoothly but sometimes in opposition, to create continual motion
and change.
Dynamic Group Processes
WHY STUDY GROUPS?
● Understanding People
○ Fundamental Attribution Error: the tendency to
overestimate the causal influence of dispositional factors
while underemphasizing the causal influence of situational
factors.
● Understanding the Social World
○ Groups are the interpersonal microstructures that link
individuals to society.
○ As sociologist Gary Alan Fine (2012) writes, “the group, a
level between self and society, should properly have a
central place in sociological theorizing... it creates
allegiance; members know each other, come to create a
culture and shared history, and can use the group as a
basis of connection to the larger society”
● Applications to Practical Problems
Groups are now the makers, the builders, and producers of nearly
everything the world needs and consumes. Groups, too, are the
world’s deciders.
CHAPTER 2: STUDYING GROUPS
What assumptions do researchers make when studying groups and
their dynamics?
THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF GROUP
● The Individual and the Group
● The Multilevel Perspective
THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP
● The field’s paradigm (Kuhn, 1970) was shaped by early
researchers such as:
○ Paradigm: Scientists’ shared assumptions about the
phenomena they study; also, a set of research
procedures.
○ Level of Analysis: The focus of study when examining a
multilevel process or phenomenon, such as the
individual-level or the group-level of analysis.
○ Group Fallacy: Explaining social phenomena in terms of
the group as a whole instead of basing the explanation on
the individual-level processes within the group; ascribing
psychological qualities, such as will, intentionality, and
mind, to a group rather than to thE individuals within the
group.
○ Group Mind (or Collective Consciousness): A
hypothetical unifying mental force linking group members
together; the fusion of individual consciousness or mind
into a transcendent consciousness.
MEASUREMENT
● Observation
Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory:
● Self-report
● Groups can be greater than the sum of their parts.
OBSERVATION
● The law of interactionism that states each person’s behavioral,
William Foote White’s study of “corner boys” in Street Corner Society
cognitive, and emotional reactions (“behavior”), B, are a function
● Observation: A measurement method that involves watching and
of his or her personal qualities, P, the social environment, E, and
● recording the activities of individuals and groups.
the interaction of these personal qualities with factors present in
● Overt Observation: Openly watching and recording information
the social environment
with no attempt to conceal one’s research purposes.
● Covert Observation: Watching and recording information on the
THE MULTILEVEL PERSPECTIVE
activities of individuals and groups without their knowledge.
A multilevel perspective (e.g. Hackman’s analysis of orchestras)
● Participant Observation: Watching and recording group
considers micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors when investigating
activities as a member of the group or participant in the social
group dynamics.
Issues:
● Hawthorne effect
● Reliability
● Validity process.
● Hawthorne effect: A change in behavior that occurs when
individuals know they are being observed or studied.
● Qualitative Study: A research procedure that collects and
analyzes nonnumeric, unquantified types of data, such as verbal
descriptions, text, images, or objects.
● Structured Observational Methods: Research procedures that
create a systematic record of group interaction and activities by
classifying (coding) each overt expression or action into a defined
category.
● EXAMPLE: The Nortons
● Quantitative Study: A research procedure that collects and
analyzes numeric data, such as frequencies, proportions, or
amounts.
● Interaction Process Analysis (IPA): A structured coding system
used to measure group activity by classifying each observed
behavior into one of 12 categories, such as “shows solidarity” or
“asks for orientation” (developed by Robert F. Bales).
● Systematic Multiple Level Observation of Groups (SYMLOG):
A theoretical and structured coding system for recording the
activities of a group and the overall behavioral orientation of
members (developed by Robert F. Bales).
● Reliability: The degree to which a measurement technique
consistently yields the same conclusion at different times. For
measurement techniques with two or more components, reliability
is also the degree to which these components yield similar
conclusions.
● Interrater Reliability: The degree to which two or more raters
agree.
● Validity: The degree to which a measurement method assesses
what it was designed to measure.
● EXAMPLE: Bale’s Interaction Process Analysis
SELF REPORT
Moreno’s Sociometry
Neglected (isolated), Rejected (unpopular), Popular (star), Controversial,
Sociable (amiable), Unsociable (negative), Cliques, Couples (pairs),
Gatekeepers
 ● Self-report Measures: Assessment methods, such as
questionnaires, tests, or interviews, that ask respondents to
describe their feelings, attitudes, or beliefs.
● Sociometry: A method for measuring the relationships among
members of a group and summarizing those relationships
graphically (developed by Jacob Moreno).
● Sociogram: A graphic representation of the patterns of inter
member relations created through sociometry. In most cases,
each member of the group is depicted by a symbol, such as a
lettered circle or square, and relations among members (e.g.,
communication links and friendship pairings) are indicated by
lines from one member to another.
● Social Network Analysis (SNA): A set of procedures for
studying the relational structure of groups and networks
mathematically and graphically. Using information about the
relationships (ties, edges) linking members (nodes, vertexes), the
method yields member-level indexes (e.g.,centrality and
betweenness), group-level indexes (e.g., density and
cohesiveness), and a graphic representation of the unit.
RESEARCH METHODS IN GROUP DYNAMICS
● Case Studies
● Correlational Studies
● Experimental Studies
● Studying Groups: Issues and Implications
An in-depth analysis of one or more groups:
● Key ingredients
● Strengths
● Limitations
CASE STUDIES
● Case Study: A research technique that draws on multiple
sources of information to examine, in depth, the activities and
dynamics of a group or groups.
● Groupthink: A set of negative group-level processes, including
illusions of vulnerability, self-censorship, and pressures to
conform, that occur when highly cohesive groups seek
concurrence rather than objective analysis when making a
decision (identified by Irving Janis).
● Bona Fide Groups: Naturally occurring groups, such as
audiences, boards of directors, clubs, or teams, compared to ad
hoc groups created for research purposes.
● EXAMPLE: Janis’s analysis of groupthink
CORRELATIONAL STUDIES
called “correlational” studies because the findings are often
expressed in the form of a correlation coefficient.
● Correlational Study: A research design in which the investigator
measures (but does not manipulate) at least two variables and
then uses statistical procedures to examine the strength and
direction of the relationship between these variables.
● Reference Group: A group or collective that individuals use as a
standard or frame of reference when selecting and appraising
their abilities, attitudes, or beliefs; includes groups that individuals
identify with and admire and categories of noninteracting
individuals.
● Correlation Coefficient: A standardized statistic that measures
the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables.
Often symbolized by r, correlations can range from –1 to +1.
● EXAMPLE: Newcomb’s Bennington Study
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
● Experiment: A research design in which the investigator (1)
manipulates at least one variable by randomly assigning
participants to two or more different conditions, (2) measures at
least one other variable, and (3) controls the influence of other
variables on the outcome.
● Independent Variable: Something that the researcher changes
in an experimental study while holding other variables constant
and measuring the dependent variable the causal mechanism in
a cause–effect relationship.
● Dependent Variable: The resultant outcomes measured by the
researcher; the effect variable in a cause–effect relationship.
● EXAMPLE: Lewin, Lippitt, and White’s study of leadership
STUDYING GROUPS: ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS
● Case studies: A typical of most groups, subjective, and
stimulated theory.
● Correlational studies: Limited information about causality but
precise estimates of the strength of relationships, less artificial,
fewer ethical concerns.
● Experiments: Too artificial, not “real” groups, but clearest test of
Cause and effect.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
Theoretical perspectives guide researchers’ studies of groups
MOTIVATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Analysis of wants, needs, emotions, and other psychological processes
that energize behavior and determine its form, intensity, and duration.
● Emotion: A subjective state of positive or negative affect often
accompanied by a degree of arousal or activation.
● Hierarchy of Needs: An ordering of needs from the most basic
and biologically necessary to the more social and psychological
needs, such as aesthetic and actualization needs (developed by
Abraham Maslow).
● EXAMPLE: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVES
Analysis of behavior, particularly its acquisition and maintenance through
learning.
● Behaviorism: A theoretical explanation of the way organisms
acquire new responses to environmental stimuli through
conditioning (learning).
● Social Exchange Theory: An economic model of interpersonal
relationships that assumes individuals seek out relationships that
offer them many rewards while exacting few costs.
● EXAMPLE: Social Exchange Theory
SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVES
Analysis of the dynamic adjustments that occur between and among the
interdependent parts of the whole.
● Systems Theory: A general theoretical approach that assumes
that complex phenomena are the result of the constant and
dynamic adjustments that occur between and among the
interdependent parts of the whole. Applied to groups, systems
theory assumes that groups are open systems that maintain
dynamic equilibrium among members through a complex series
of interrelated adjustments and processes.
● EXAMPLE: Input-process-output Theory
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVES
Analysis of mental processes that acquire, organized, and integrate
information
● Self-reference Effect: The tendency for people to have better
memories for actions and events that they are personally
connected to in some way.
● Group-reference Effect: The tendency for group members to
have better memories for actions and events that are related, in
some way, to their group.
● EXAMPLE: Group-reference Effect
BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Analysis of the physiological processes that influence group members.
EXAMPLE: Biopsychosocial Threat/Challenge Model
SELECTING A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES THE INCLUSION-EXCLUSION CONTINUUM
● Some researchers test hypotheses derived from only one theory.
● Others draw on several perspectives to describe, predict, control,
and explain groups and their members.
● No one solution answers the question “What theory explains
group behavior?”

CHAPTER 3: INCLUSION AND IDENTITY

FROM ISOLATION TO INCLUSION
● The Need to Belong
All human beings “have a pervasive drive to form and maintain at
least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and impactful INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION
interpersonal relationships.” – Roy Baumeister & Mark Leary ● Ostracism: excluding one or more individuals from a group by
(1995, p. 497). reducing or eliminating contact with the person, usually by
○ Short periods of isolation can be rejuvenating, but most ignoring, shunning, or explicitly banishing them.
people find prolonged (and unwanted) isolation disturbing. The Temporal Need-Threat Model of Ostracism
○ Isolation from others can lead to loneliness
○ Two types of loneliness: social and emotional.

TYPE OF GROUP:

REACTIONS TO EXCLUSION:
● Flight-or-Fight Response
○ Withdrawal and freezing
○ Aggressive, combative orientation
● Tend-and-Befriend Response
○ Attention to social cues
○ Increased motivation
○ Prosocial orientation
● Exclusion and Aggression: Research indicates an aggressive
response to exclusion is more likely when the group is the source
of the rejection and the group has high entitativity.
INCLUSION AND HUMAN NATURE CREATING COOPERATION
The Herd Instinct: The Evolution of Gregariousness
INDIVIDUALISM COLLECTIVISM

● The individual is primary, ● The group is primary, first.

first.
● His or her rights must be
recognized and put above
the right of the group as a
whole
● Its rights must be
recognized and put above
the rights of the individual.
● The individual belongs to
the group.

Core Features of Individualism and Collectivism (based on Triandis

& Gelfand, 2012)

SOCIOMETER THEORY (LEARY, 2017): Self-esteem is not the

evaluation of your worth — it is an indicator of how well you are accepted
into social groups

THE BIOLOGY OF OSTRACISM AND INCLUSION

● Neurological Reactions to Ostracism: Studies of the brain
using FMRI Technology (Eisenberger, 2003) and the effects of
analgesics on emotional reactions following rejection suggest that
the pain of exclusion is maintained by the same biological
systems responsible for the experience of physiological pain. INDIVIDUALISM COLLECTIVISM

● Exchange relations ● Communal relations

FROM INDIVIDUALISM TO COLLECTIVISM ● Egocentric, person- ● Sociocentric, group-
Creating Cooperation centered group culture centered group culture
● Social Relations ● Equity ● Equality or need
● Social Obligations ● Person-oriented ● Ingroup-oriented
● Social Goals ● Autonomy and uniqueness ● Conformity and duty
The Social Self
● Individualists and Collectivists Social Obligations: The mean distributions in the Ultimatum Game from
● Cultural Differences people living in 16 different indigenous societies and cultures around the
● Maintaining OptimalDistinctiveness world.
THE SOCIAL SELF
PERSONAL IDENTITY:
includes qualities that distinguish
individuals from one another.
● Social Identification: accepting as self-descriptive
(self-stereotyping) the qualities attributed to one’s group
SOCIAL IDENTITY:
includes all those qualities shared (depersonalization)
in common with others.

INDIVIDUALISTS’: COLLECTIVISTS’:
identities emphasize their emphasize connections to other
personal qualities. people.

Selves Across Cultures: Optimal Distinctiveness

Cultures vary in their relative
emphasis on individualism and
collectivism. (Triandis, 2009).
Social Identity Theory
● Social Categorization
● Identification
● Self and Identity
Theory:
Brewer (2012) identifies two
group-level selves: the relational
elf and the collective self.
- Individuals strive to maintain a
balance between their personal MOTIVATION AND SOCIAL IDENTITY: People are motivated to
and collective identities. protect and sustain both their individual and collective
self-esteem.
Motivation and Social Identity
● Evaluating the Self
● Protecting the Collective
Self
● Stereotype Verification
● Protecting the Personal
Self

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY: explains the development of the collective,

social self. INGROUP-OUTGROUP BASKING IN SOCIAL
● Tajfel & Turner studied the minimal intergroup situation: two BIAS: REFLECTED GLORY MOBILITY:
Rating one’s own group (BIRG):
groups of volunteers with no history, no future together, and no
more positively than Stressing association Leaving
real connection to one another. other groups. with successful the group
● They identified two key processes that combines to generate groups.
social identities:
○ Social categorization SOCIAL CREATIVITY: STEREOTYPE
○ Identification Restricting comparisons THREAT:
between the ingroup and Anxiety-provoking
other groups to stress (and self-confirming)
● Social Categorization: Individuals automatically classify people, the ingroups relative belief that others’ are
including themselves, into groups. strengths biased against one’s
group

● Hypothesized relationships between group-level outcomes and
self-esteem
CHAPTER 4: FORMATION
JOINING GROUPS
1a. Personality Traits
● Joiners and Loners
● Personality-Group Fit
1c. Social Motivation
● Need for Affiliation,
Intimacy, and Power
PERSONALITY TRAITS
● Joiners and Loners
● Personality-Group Fit
Five Factor Model (FFM) of Personality: OCEAN
● Extraversion
● Agreeableness
● Conscientiousness
● Neuroticism
● Openness to Experience
Personality-Group Fit:
● Extraverts belong to more groups compared to people who are
more introverted.
● Groups seek extraverts in part because they are happier people
than introverts.
● All the traits in the five-factor model influence the types of groups
individuals join.
ANXIETY AND ATTACHMENT
● Shyness: The tendency to be reserved or timid during social
interactions, usually coupled with feelings of discomfort and
nervousness.
● Social Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and embarrassment
experienced when anticipating or actually interacting with other
people.
● Social Anxiety Disorder: An overwhelming, debilitating form of
social anxiety.
Attachment Style: One’s characteristic approach to relationships with
other people.
1b. Anxiety and Attachment
● Shyness
● Social Anxiety
● Attachment Style
1d. Men, Women, and Groups
1e. Attitudes, Experiences, and
Expectations
● Beliefs about Groups
● Experiences in Groups
● Taking Collective Action
SOCIAL MOTIVATION Karau and Elsaid’s (2009) Beliefs about Groups (BAG) scale:
Social motives prompt people to take action, and those actions include
seeking out and joining groups.
● Need for Affiliation (and rejection sensitivity)
● Need for Intimacy
● Need for Power
These motives are often measured using indirect, projective tests and
“experience sample” methods.

Schutz (1958) integrated the 3 needs in his FIRO (Fundamental

Interpersonal Relations Orientation) theory.\
● Students who had positive experiences in groups in high school
were more likely to seek out groups to join in college (the direct
relationship between "positive experiences in groups" and
"seeking groups").
● Many factors influence people’s decisions to join a social
movement, but two factors—a sense of injustice and strong
emotions—are particularly critical
● Collaborative circle: A relatively small group of peers who work
together for an extended period of time, exchanging ideas for
commentary and critique and developing a shared conception of
what their methods and goals should be.
MEN, AND WOMEN, AND GROUPS
Sex differences in group engagement are relatively minor.
AFFILIATION
● Women tend to be higher than men in relationality.
WHEN DO PEOPLE AFFLIATE WITH OTHER PEOPLE?
● Women join smaller, informal, intimate groups, whereas men
seek membership in larger, more formal, task-focused groups. 2a. Social Comparison 2b. Stress and Affiliation
● These differences are likely due, in part, to sex roles and sexism. ● Misery Loves Company ● Safety in Numbers
● Misery Loves Miserable ● Affiliation and Social
Company Support
ATTITUDES, EXPERIENCES, AND EXPECTATIONS
● Embarrassed Misery ● Affiliation and Health
People’s attitudes, experiences, and expectations are all factors that Avoids Company
influence their decision to join a group.
● Beliefs about Groups
SOCIAL COMPARISON
● Experiences in Groups
Social comparison: People affiliate when they need information, and
● Taking Collective Action
other people are the source of that information.

Morris and colleagues discovered that individuals who feel embarrassed
are less likely to affiliate: they dis-affiliate.
Schachter studied affiliation by asking women waiting for a negative
event if they wanted to wait alone or with another person.
● Misery loves company: People prefer to affiliate rather than be
alone.
● Misery loves miserable company: Schachter found people
prefer to wait with others facing a similar experience.
STRESS AND AFFILIATION
Humans are group-seeking animals, but their gregariousness becomes
particularly robust under conditions of stress.
Groups are a source of social support:
● Buffering Effect: Stressful life circumstances leave people at risk
for psychological and physical illness, but groups can serve as
protective buffers against these negative consequences.
● Affiliation and social support are associated with healthy changes
in a body’s immune, hormonal, and neurological systems.
Downward Social Comparison Upward Social Comparison
● Selection of targets who ● Selection of targets who
are performing poorly are performing better
compared to oneself compared to oneself
● Boosts self-esteem ● Increases optimism,
elevates goals
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model:
● People prefer to associate with individuals who do not outperform
them in areas that are very relevant to their self-esteem.
● If the students thought that the task was important, they judged
their performance to be superior to that of their close friend. If the
task was not important to them personally, they felt that they had
performed relatively worse (Tesser, Campbell, & Smith, 1984).
● If the students thought that the task was important, they judged
their performance to be superior to that of their close friend. If the
task was not important to them personally, they felt that they had
performed relatively worse (Tesser, Campbell, & Smith, 1984).
 Elaboration Principle: Groups often emerge when additional elements
(people) become linked to the original members.
Elaboration Process:

ATTRACTION
WHAT PROCESSES GENERATE BONDS OF INTERPERSONAL
ATTRACTION BETWEEN MEMBERS OF GROUPS?
Principles of Attraction The Economics of Attraction
● Proximity Principle ● Social Exchange Theory
● Elaboration Principle
● Similarity Principle Schutz identified two key forms of Compatibility;
● Complementarity Principle
● Interchange Compatibility (based on similarity) and Originator
● Reciprocity Principle
● The Minimax Principle Compatibility (based on complementarity).

PRINCIPLES ATTRACTION
● Newcomb (1960) offered 17 young men starting their studies at Similarity Principle: Complementarity Principle:
the University of Michigan free rent if they answered a detailed People like others who are similar People like others whose qualities
to them in some way. In complement their own qualities.
survey of their attitudes, likes, and dislikes each week. Then he
consequence, most
watched as the 17 students sorted themselves out into friendship groups tend toward increasing
pairs and distinct groups levels of homophily.
● Newcomb identified a small number of principles that explain
Reciprocity Principle: Liking tends to be mutual; if Person A likes
when liking is more likely.
Person B, Person B will tend to like Person A.
Proximity Principle: People tend to like those who are situated nearby,
Minimax Principle: Individuals are attracted to groups that offer them
in part because it increases familiarity and interaction.
maximum rewards and minimal costs.
DEFINITION OF TERMS OF THE PRINCIPLES ATTRACTION
● Proximity Principle: Festinger and his colleagues (1950),
drawing on their studies of Westgate and Westgate West
● Similarity Principle: People like others who are similar to them
in some way. increasing levels of homophily.
● Complementarity Principle: People like others whose qualities
complement their own qualities.
● Reciprocity Principle: Liking tends to be mutual.
● Minimax Principle: Individuals are attracted to groups that offer
them maximum rewards and minimal costs

THE ECONOMICS OF MEMBERSHIP

According to social exchange theorists John Thibaut and Harold Kelley
(1959), the decision to join is based on two factors: the comparison level
and the comparison level for alternatives.