Chapter 8 - Groups

1. Chapter 8 - Groups Pt 1: March 24, 2009

2. Group definition • 2 or more people who… • Interact socially/professionally • Have some stability of membership • Share common interests/goals • Recognize themselves as a group • Many reasons for forming groups • Examples?

3. Models of Groups • Old model w/5 stages (see book) – forming, storming, etc…but now recognize not universal stages • Punctuated-equilibrium model now more popular. • Phase 1 – • Phase 2 – • Research?

4. Group Performance • Older assumption of social facilitation effect on performance in groups • Groups outperform individuals • But may depend on individuals’ skill level • Evaluation apprehension? • Related to issue of computerized perf monitoring –

5. Groups & Diversity • How does cultural diversity affect groups? • Effects differ over time – • How? • Effects differ based on group task -

6. Social Loafing • On additive tasks, likely some members will loaf – not provide max input • Why? • Cultural differences? • How can social loafing be reduced?

7. Group Structure • Larger the group, less member satisfaction • Research indicates the following reasons: • Also disadvantage of “Process loss”: • What is it?

8. Performance & Task Type • Do larger groups perform better? Depends: • Additive tasks – what is this? • Disjunctive – • Conjunctive – • What does research indicate?

9. Group Decision Techniques • To reduce process loss or members’ inhibitions: • Nominal group technique: • Delphi technique:

10. Research Issues • What are the boundaries of the group? • Difficulties w/identifying a group • Limited amount of field research on groups • Most are lab studies of nominal groups…does that matter? • Potential disadvantages of this - • Can still examine process variables that may not change

11. What is group ‘effectiveness’? • Problem w/identifying appropriate DV for group effectiveness studies • Most operational defs of ‘effectiveness’ have included: • 1. • 2. • 3.