Understanding

Cohesion and
Collaboration
 Cohesion
• Cohesion was advanced by Festinger, Schachter, and Back (1950) who
viewed cohesion as
“the total field of forces that act on members to continue in the group”
• Shortcomings
• failed to consider the group as a totality
 Cohesion
• Consequently, Gross and Martin defined cohesion as
“the resistance of the group to disruptive forces”
• Shortcomings
• Difficult to operationalize and led to several inconsistencies in research findings
 Cohesion
• Libo (1953) operationalized cohesiveness as
“attraction of the group for its members”
• Shortcomings
• Did not measure both individual and group levels of perception of cohesiveness
 Cohesion
• Carron, Brawley, and Widmeyer (1998) defined cohesion as
"as a dynamic process that is reflected in the tendency for a group to
stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental
objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs”
 Characteristics of Cohesion
• Multidimensional Nature
• Dynamic
• Instrumental
• Affective Component
 Conceptual Framework for Cohesion
• Evolved from three fundamental assumptions
1. cohesion can be measured through both group and individual opinions of
group members
2. Cognitions (Thoughts) held by each group member of the group
3. Need to distinguish between task- and socially oriented concerns of
groups and their members
 Four Dimensional Model of Cohesion
• Carron et al. (1985) proposed a conceptual model of cohesion whereby
both task-social, and individual-group orientations resulted in a four
dimensional model of cohesion
• Group Integration-Task (GI-T),
• Group Integration-Social (GI-S),
• Individual Attractions to the Group-Task (ATG-T),
• Individual Attractions to the Group-Social (ATG-S)
 Four Dimensional Model of Cohesion
• Group Integration-Task (GI-T) is defined as the team member's feelings regarding the
similarity, closeness, and bonding within the group around the group's task
• Group Integration-Social (GI-S) is viewed as the member's feelings about the
similarity, c1oseness, and bonding within the group as a whole as a social unit
• Individual Attractions to the Group Task (ATG-T) is viewed as each team member's
feelings about his or her personal involvement with the group's task, goal, objectives,
and productivity
• Individual Attractions to the Group-Social (ATG-S) refers to each group member's
feelings about his or her personal acceptance, and social interaction with the group
 Team Building
• Team building is designed to increase group effectiveness by enhancing
group cohesiveness
• The Conceptual Model of team building
• Inputs (group environment and group structure)
• Throughputs(group processes)
• Outputs
 Team Building and Cohesion
Relationship
• Defining Team Goal Setting
• Team Goals to Enhance Cohesion
• Implementing a Team Goal Setting Program
 Assignment

• Study to test the effectiveness of Team Goal Setting on

Cohesion in Sports Team
 Collaboration
Just as cohesion can be improved in groups and teams so
can collaboration (de Bono’s Thinking Hats)