Group Dynamics

1
Group Dynamics

• Communication and Interaction Patterns
• Cohesion
• Social Integration and Influence
• (Social Control Mechanisms)
• Group Culture

2
Communication and Interaction Patterns

• Whenever people are together in a group, they
  are communicating. (T R)
• Communication patterns can be helpful or
  harmful.

3
Communication and Interaction Patterns

• Why people communicate
• 1. Understanding other people
• 2. Finding out where they stand in relation to
  other people
• 3. Persuading others
• 4. Gaining or maintaining power
• 5. Defending themselves
• 6. Provoking a reaction from others
• 7. Making an impression on others
• 8. Gaining and maintaining relationships
• 9. Presenting a unified image to the group

4
Communication and Interaction Patterns

• OBSERVE, ASSESS, and UNDERSTAND COMMUNICATION
  AND INTERACTION PATTERNS.

5
Communication and Interaction Patterns

• Selective Perception influenced by
• 1. Life positions that result from experiences
  in early childhood
• 2. Values
• 3. The status and position of the
  communicator
• 4. Previous experiences
• 5. Assumptions
• 6. Stereotypes
• Feedback

6
Communication and Interaction Patterns

• Interaction Patterns
• 1. Maypole leader to member member to
  leader
• 2. Round Robin members take turns
• 3. Hot Seat extended back and forth exchange
  between leader and a member
• 4. Free Floating all members take
  responsibility for communicating

7
Communication and Interaction Patterns

• Patterns of Interaction are influenced by
• 1. Cues and Reinforcers
• 2. Emotional Bonds
• 3. Subgroups
• 4. Size and Physical Arrangements
• 5. Power and Status

8
Cohesion

• The result of all forces acting on members to
  remain in a group.

9
Cohesion

• Four interacting sets of variables determine a
  members attraction to a group
• 1. Need for affiliation, recognition, and
  security
• 2. The resources and prestige available through
  participation
• 3. Expectations of the beneficial and
  detrimental consequences of the group
• 4. Comparison of the group with other group
  experiences

10
Social Integration and Influence(Social Control
Mechanisms)

• How members fit together and are accepted in a
  group.
• Groups are not able to function effectively
  unless there is a fairly high level of social
  integration among members
• Social Control Mechanisms the processes by
  which the group-as-a-whole gains sufficient
  compliance and conformity from its members to
  enable it to function in an orderly manner.
• Social order and stability are prerequisites for
  the formation and maintenance of a cohesive
  group.

11
Social Integration and Influence

• Norms shared expectations and beliefs about
  appropriate ways to act in a social situation
  such as a group.
• increase predictability, stability, and security
• result from what is valued, preferred, and
  accepted behavior
• overt or covert

12
Social Integration and Influence

• Changing Norms
• Disequilibrium unfreezing
• Return to equilibrium new norms replace old
  norms refreezing

13
Social Integration and Influence

• Roles shared expectations about the functions
  of individuals in the group
• Status an evaluation and ranking of each
  members position in the group relative to all
  other members

14
Group Culture

• Values, beliefs, customs, and traditions held in
  common by group members.