Group Development Flashcards
Define Group
Two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
Define Formal Group
A designated work group defined by an organization’s structure.
Define Informal Group
A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.
Social Identity Theory
Perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups.
In-group Favoritism
Perspective in which we see members of our in-group as better than other people, and people not in our group as all the same.
Five-Stage Model
The five distinct stages groups go through: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
Forming Stage
The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty.
Storming Stage
The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict
Norming Stage
The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.
Performing Stage
The fourth stage in group development, during which the group is fully functional.
Adjourning Stage
The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities, rather than task performance.
Punctuated-Equilibrium Model
A set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity
Define Role
A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
Role Perception
An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation.
Role Expectations
How others believe a person should act in a given situation
Psychological Contract
An unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from an employee and vice versa
Role Conflict
A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations
Norms
Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared be the group’s members
Conformity
The adjustment of one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group.
Reference Groups
Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform
Deviant Workplace Behavior
Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization or its members. Also called antisocial behavior or workplace incivility.
Status
A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others
Status Characteristics Theory
A theory that states that differences in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups
Social Loafing
The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.
Cohesiveness
The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group
Diversity
The extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from, one another.
Groupthink
A phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.
Groupshift
A change between a group’s decision and an individual decision that a member within the group would make; the shift can be toward either conservatism or greater risk but it generally is toward a more extreme version of the group’s original position.
Interacting Groups
Typical groups in which members interact with each other face to face
Brainstorming
An idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.
Nominal Group Technique
A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face to face to pool their judgement in a systematic but independent fashion.
Electronic Meeting
A meeting in which members interact on computers, allowing for anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes.
