Full summary of lectures, including all terms and papers mentioned in lectures, learning goals (and book) of Group Dynamics. Including 24 exam questions! Given by Dongning Ren at Tilburg University (2019/2020)
, Lecture 1: introduction
- People become more helpful after being excluded = False
- Students become more ‘group-seeking’ when under stress = True
- A group of factory workers with strong ties are more productive than a group with weak ties = False
- people perform better in simple and familiar tasks when others are watching them = True
- Within-group conflict typically improves the performance of a group = False (but exceptions)
- Emotional stability is an important factor in predicting who will be a good ‘team player’ = False
- Negative views of outgroup members will fade if people interact more regularly with those
outgroup members =False
- The dynamics of large groups (crowds) are, at their core, comparable to the dynamics of smaller
groups = True
Group: two or more people who are connected and are inter-dependent in the sense that their
needs and goals cause them to influence each other
Group dynamics: the influential actions, processes and changes
that occur within and between group; also, the scientific study of
those processes
How can you describe a group:
• Type of interaction
Relationships → focus on emotional and personal bonds
(e.g. social support)
Task → generate ideas, choose solutions, negotiations,
executing task, focus on group’s work, project, plans and
goals
• How members are interdependent → when outcomes,
actions, thoughts, feelings and experiences are partially
determined by others
Unilateral: hierarchical interdependence, no
reciprocity, one leader that influences others but not vice
versa. Other forms of interdependence:
o Unequal reciprocal →
o Sequential interdependence (without reciprocity)
o Mutual reciprocal interdependence
o Unequal sequential
o Unequal sequential reciprocal
• Structure: the persistent and interrelated features of a
group, such as roles and norms that influence the functioning of the group as a whole and
create regularities in the interactions of its members
o Roles: Coherent set of behaviors expected of people who occupy specific positions.
o Norms: Consensual standards that describe what behaviors should (or should not) be
performed in certain contexts.
• Unity/cohesiveness: a group is an entity that forms when interpersonal forces bind the
members together in a unit with boundaries that mark who is in the group and who is
outside of it.
o Group cohesion: solidarity/unity of a group resulting from the development of strong
and mutual interpersonal bonds among members and group-level forces that unify
the group
o Cohesiveness: qualities of a group that binds members together
o Entitativity: extent to which assemblage of individuals are perceived to be a group
1
, Campbell: entitativity = the quality of being a single entity rather than loosely associated,
independent individuals. Influenced by:
(1) Common fate: having the same ideas about achieving goals
(2) Similarity: do the individual express similar sorts of behaviors?
(3) Proximity: how close are the individuals to each other within the group?
Group level analysis instead of individual level analysis:
Allport: objected group-level concepts, because they are examples of 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.
Sherif: Group mind does exist: group members adapt their opinions to the group norms.
How can you define a group:
Planned (goal, organized, clear boundaries) vs emergent (spontaneous, unwritten norms)
Primary: small, long-term, characterized by frequent interactions, solidarity and high levels of
interdependence among members that substantially influences the attitudes, values and social
outcomes of its members e.g. friends or family
Secondary/social: relatively small number of individuals who interact with one another over an
extended period of time e.g. work groups, clubs, congregations
Collective: relatively large aggregation or group of individuals who display similarities in actions and
outlook. A street crowd, a line of people (a queue), a panicked group escaping a fire are examples of
collectives, as are more widely dispersed groups
(Social) category: perceptual grouping of people who are assumed to be similar to one another in
some ways but different in some ways from individuals who are not members of that grouping
2
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