Group Composition

Question 1

What are some features of groups according to Carron and Hausenblas (1998)?

Answer 1

Share a common fate, associated with mutual benefit, has a social structure, presence of group process, assembly bonus effect (potential for extra productivity), self-categorization (identity within group)

Question 2

What are some features of teams according to Carron and Hausenblas (1998)?

Answer 2

2+ individuals who: possess a common identity, have common goals and objectives, share a common fate, structures interaction and communication, hold perceptions about group structure, reciprocate interpersonal attraction, are personally independent, consider themselves a group

Question 3

Define group dynamics. (source?)

Answer 3

Group dynamics concerns the nature of groups, the laws of their development and interrelations with individuals, other groups and the larger institution. (Cartwright and Zander, 1968)

Question 4

What equation helps conceptualise group effectiveness? (source?)

Answer 4

Actual Productivity = Potential Productivity - Process losses (lack of motivation/co-ordination)
Steiner (1972)

Question 5

Regarding group composition, what are member attributes? (source?)

Answer 5

The amount, variability and compatibility of group resources (Widmeyer and Loy, 1981)

Question 6

What slightly contrasting statements were made by Gill (1984) and Weinberg and Gould (2011)?

Answer 6

The best individuals make the best team (Gill, 1984)
BUT
The importance of individual ability will decrease as the importance of coordination increases (Weinberg and Gould, 2011)

Question 7

Use references to describe the importance of variability in sport?

Answer 7

Heterogenous groups were found to typically perform better than homogenous groups (Carron and Eys, 2012)
Teams with more diverse task-related skills performed both
quantitatively and qualitatively better (Horowitz and
Horowitz, 2007)
But, in a study on female tennis players, homogeneity in ability was positively associated with team effectiveness (55% win percentage Vs 45%) (Widmeyer and Loy, 1981)
So –> probably sport dependent?

Question 8

What is in the 5 factor model of personality? (source?)

Answer 8

OCEAN
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness 
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
(Costa and McCrae, 1992)

Question 9

What trait from the Big 5 was positively associated with leadership? (source?)

Answer 9

Extraversion

Judge et al., (2002)

Question 10

What is the Ringelmann effect?

Answer 10

The phenomenon by which individual performance decreases as the number of people in the group increases (Weingberg and Gould, 2011)
Reduced motivation, as a result of reduced personal accountability, was found to be the biggest factor (Ingham et al., 1974)

Question 11

What is social loafing?

Answer 11

The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually”
(Karau and Williams, 1993)

Question 12

What factors contribute to social loafing? (source?)

Answer 12

Lack of individual assessment, individual’s perception of redundant effort, low personal or group value placed on task, no comparison against group standards available, others are expected to perform well
(Carron and Eys, 2012)