Lecture 4 - Group dynamics Flashcards
What is a group?
A collection of interacting individuals who have a sense of shared purpose and mutual influence
What is a team?
We-ness - Collective sense of identity
Distinctive individual roles
Structures modes of communication
Norms - social rules that guide members
Task interdependence - teamwork
What is the linear perspective of team formation?
Forming - Familiarisation, social comparisons, strengths and weaknesses
Storming - Resistance - leader, group, interpersonal - infighting - roles
Norming - Conflicts resolved, solidarity, sense of unity , common goals
Performing - Togetherness, success, problem solving, defined roles
What is the conceptual Model of Cohesion?
Carron 1982
Environmental factors - contractual responsibility, organisational climate
Personal factors - individual orientation, individual differences
Leadership factors - Style, coach personalities
These influence the team factors
Distinctiveness, group productivity norm, communication, group size, team stability, role acceptance
This influences cohesion which in turn influences group and individual outcomes
Define cohesion
A dynamic process that is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in pursuit of its instrumental objectives and or for the satisfaction of member affective needs.
What are the characteristics of cohesion?
Multidimensional - numerous factors cause a group to stick together
Dynamic - Can change over time
Instrumental - groups stick together for different reasons
What is task cohesion?
The degree to which members of a group work together to achieve common goals
What is social cohesion?
The degree to which members of a group like each other and enjoy each others company
What is the conceptual framework of group effectiveness?
Steiner 1972
Actual productivity = potential productivity (relevant resources + players abilities) - Group process losses (faulty group processes - motivational or co-ordinational losses)
What is the Ringlemann effect?
The tendency for individual members of a group to become increasing less productive as the size of the group increases
From 2 people to 8 people their can be a 44% reduction
What are the causes of social loafing?
Free rider - perception that their effort is unimportant for the outcome
Minimising strategy - motivated to get by doing as little as possible
Allocation strategy - save best efforts for when most beneficial to themselves
False perception that increased effort won’t be recognised
How do we counteract social loafing?
Emphasise the importance of individual contributions
Increase accountability
Tasks where individual efforts are clear
What is the group environment questionnaire?
Widmeyer, Brawley and Carron 1985
A reliable and valid measure that shows individual vs group and task vs social cohesion
1,3,5,7,9 - individual social
2,4,6,8- individual task
10,12,14,16,18 - Group integration - Task
11,13,15,17- Group integration - social
High score = More strongly feel about a particular aspect of group cohesion
Outline the antecedent of team size
Widmeyer et al 1990a
3-3 competitive recreational basketball
Found that social cohesion was highest in team size of 6
Attraction to the task decreased from 3 to 9
Performance best for 6 worst for 9
Outline the antecedent of role clarity and acceptance
Formal roles - Dictated by the nature and structure of the organisation , specified team and tactical roles
Informal roles - Evolve from group dynamics e.g. the player who gives a speech before the game starts
Related to Task cohesion in team sports
Cohesiveness predicted role clarity and acceptance in ice hockey Dawe and Carron 1990
Outline the antecedent of team stability
Teams that have low turnover are more effective
Team performance drops - effort is removed - manager is sacked - short term bounce (shown by Lago-Penas 2011)
Dutch premier league - 81 sackings 212 performances dips from 1986 - 2004
What is the cohesion performance relationship?
Higher cohesion does lead to higher performance and vice versa
Meta analysis of 46 studies showed that Effect size was 0.66
Task cohesion most important
How do we develop team cohesion?
Increase team identity
Increase social cohesiveness
Clarify team goals
Improve team communication
What is self categorisation theory ?
Turner et al 1987, 1994
Personal identity and social identity
Shared values between leaders and followers are the basis of group member mobilisation of effort (slater et al 2018,2019)
Togetherness relates to relationships - more social groups = more resilience
What is PDMS?
Personal Disclosure Mutual sharing - sharing an issue or point with a group
Done in a football club and enhanced cohesion, communication and understanding of teammates
