Group Composition Flashcards
What are the key features of a group?
Share a common fate Mutual benefit Has social structure Group processes - interaction and communication Assembly effect bonus Self categorisation
What is the assembly effect bonus?
More people, stronger the group
What is self categorisation?
Each member recognise they are part of the group
Give an example of a group
Group of people doing park run
Members of an exercise class
What are the key features of a team?
Common identity - team name
Common goals and objectives
Common fate
Structures patterns of interaction and modes of communication
Hold perceptions about group structure
Independent, interpersonal attraction and consider themselves a group
Self categorise
What perceptions may individuals hold about group structure in a team?
Each individual has a role and everyone knows each others role
What does interpersonal attraction refer to in a team setting?
All members are invested and committed to the team
Who defined the difference between a group and a team?
Carron and Hausenblas 1998
What are group dynamics?
Split into 3 categories:
- Nature of group
- Laws of development
- Interrelations
What aspects of the nature of the group affect group dynamics?
Composition
Structure
Environment
Cohesion
How do the laws of group development affect group dynamics?
Formation
Development of group
Leadership
What interrelations are important for group dynamics?
Coach-athlete relationship
Family influence
How can group effectiveness be conceptualised?
Actual productivity = potential productivity - process losses
What are the potential process losses affecting group effectiveness?
Co-ordination - communication and conflict
Motivation
How can group effectiveness be increased? (Steiner 1972)
Increase potential
Reduce process losses
How can group productivity be conceptualised?
3 Parts:
Input - Group structure
Throughput - Group cohesion
Output - group processes
Hypothesised by Carron and Hausenblas 1998
What affects group structure? (in relation to group productivity)
Member attributes
Group environment
What affects group processes? (in relation to group productivity)
Individual outcomes
Team outcomes
What are the member attributes which contribute to increased group productivity?
Amount, variability and compatibility of group skills and attributes
What did Weinberg and Gould hypothesise in 2011 about the amount of resources to the productivity of a team?
Importance of individual ability decreases as importance for co-ordination increases
How does variability of resources tend to affect group productivity?
Heterogenous groups tend to be more successful (Carron and Eye, 2012)
Depends on sports - homogeneity more successful in tennis
How does compatibility affect group productivity?
Incompatibility can divide a team and effect group success
Need some similar skills between members but some skills may compliment each other
Aside from skills, what can affect group compatibility?
Previous experience Physical attributes Dependability Gender Anxiety Sociability Motivation Dependability Intelligence
What is the five factor model of personality proposed by Costa and McCrae in 1992?
Openness to experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Which aspects of personality has there been research into?
Extraversion and leadership
Amount and variability and group cohesion
How can group environment be impacted to affect group effectiveness?
Physical environment - training facilities etc.
Group territory - home advantage
Group size
How does group size impact group effectiveness?
Ideally it would increase with increased numbers of members but there will be increased product losses due to co-ordination losses
The Ringlemann effect and Social Loafing help explain this
What is the ringlemann effect?
Individual performance decrease as number of people in group increase
Weinberg and Gould 2011
Why is there an apparent decrease in individual performance as group size increases?
Reduced motivation due to reduced sense of accountability - most important reason
Social loafing
What is social loafing?
Tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually
Karau and Williams
When is social loafing increased?
- Individual output can’t be evaluated independently
- Individual perceive effort as redundant
- Low personal/group value on task
- No comparison vs group standards
- High performing group
What is the primary difference between a group and a team?
Teams have shared goals and objectives
How can you increase potential productivity?
Increase number of people
Increase training sessions
Increase variability, amount of resources
