Physical Proximity

One especially strong reason that a person

Group Behavior, might join a particular group, especially if the
group is informal, is physical proximity
Terms, Teams and (Forsyth, 2013). At work, employees tend to
form groups that consist of those who work
Conflict in the same general area. And some
employees seek close physical proximity to
I/O Psychology Group 4 Handout people in power, hoping they will become
part of an elite group.

Group Dynamics Affiliation

Definition of a Group Affiliation involves our need to be with other

Some experts use a general definition that people. Thus, one reason people join groups
basically defines a group as two or more is to be near and talk to other people. It is a
people who perceive themselves as a group leadership style in which the individual leads
and interact in some way. Other definitions by caring about others and that is most
require that a group must involve some effective in a climate of anxiety. The need for
degree of structure and permanency. affiliation is very strong. Mayo (1946)
Identification
The first criterion is that the group must
have multiple members.
Another reason we join groups is our desire
for identification with some group or cause.
Group Rewards
Emotional Support
The second group criterion is that
membership must be rewarding for each
We also join groups to obtain emotional
individual in the group. support.
Corresponding Effects Common Interests
The third group criterion is that an event People often join groups because they share
that affects one group member should affect a common interest.
all group members.
Common Goals
Common Goals
People who join political parties exemplify
The fourth and final criterion is that all being in pursuit of a common goal. These
members must have a common goal. people may also share common interests,
but their primary purpose is to get a
Reasons for Joining Groups
particular person or members of a particular
Assignment
party elected to office.
In the workplace, the most common reason
for joining groups is that employees are Factors Affecting Group Performance
assigned to them.
Group Cohesiveness
 The extent to which group members like and members are not likely to quit a group that
trust one another, are committed to they have worked so hard to join. Group
accomplishing a team goal, and share a LOAFERADVOCATEAbility and Confidence
feeling of group pride. Not surprisingly, groups consisting of
high-ability members
Group Homogeneity outperform those with low-ability members
The homogeneity of a group is the extent to (Devine & Phillips, 2001).
which its members are similar. A
homogeneous group contains members who
are similar in some or most ways, whereas a COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE
heterogeneous group contains members
who are more different than alike. Another variable that can affect a
group’s performance is its communication
Slightly heterogeneous groups structure, or network. For a group to perform
successfully, good communication among
Groups in which a few group members have members is essential.
different characteristics from the rest of the
group, heterogeneous groups performed
somewhat better than homogeneous and
heterogeneous groups.

Isolation

Groups that are isolated or located away

from other groups tend to be highly
cohesive.

Outside Pressure
Groups that are pressured by outside forces Figure 13.1
also tend to become highly cohesive. To
some degree, this response to outside As shown in Figure 13.1, a variety of
pressure can be explained by the communication networks can be used by
phenomenon of psychological reactance small groups, and even more complex
(Brehm, 1966). networks are possible with larger groups.
Each network has its advantages and
Group Size disadvantages, but the best networks
Groups are most cohesive and perform best depend on the situations and goals of their
when group size is small. groups.

Social impact theory GROUP ROLES

States that the addition of a group member Another factor that affects the
has the greatest effect on group behavior performance of a group is the extent to
when the size of the group is small. which its members assume different roles.
For a group to be successful, its members’
Group status
roles must fall into one of two categories:
The esteem in which the group is held by task oriented and social oriented (Stewart,
people not in the group. fraternity or sorority Fulmer, & Barrick, 2005).
 group performance is individual dominance
1. Task-oriented roles involve
by a leader or single group member. If the
behaviors such as offering new leader or group member has an accurate
ideas, coordinating activities, and solution to a problem the group is trying to
finding new information. solve, the group will probably perform at a
2. Social-oriented roles involve high level.
encouraging cohesiveness and But if the leader or group member has an
participation. inaccurate solution, he will lead the group
astray, and it will perform poorly.
A third category—the individual A study by LePine, Hollenbeck, Ilgen,
role—includes blocking group activities, and Hedlund (1997) found that a group of
calling attention to oneself, and avoiding highly intelligent members perform
group interaction. Individual roles seldom poorly when its leader is not very intelligent.
result in higher group productivity The same relationship was found for the
personality variable of conscientiousness.

PRESENCE OF OTHERS: SOCIAL GROUP THINK

FACILITATION AND INHIBITION In groupthink, members become so
Social facilitation involves the cohesive and like-minded that they make
positive effects of the presence of others on poor decisions despite contrary information
an individual’s behavior; social inhibition that might reasonably lead them to other
involves the negative effects of others’ options. Groupthink most often occurs when
presence. Social facilitation and social the group
inhibition can be further delineated by Groupthink can be reduced in
audience effects and coaction. several ways. First, the group leader should
AUDIENCE EFFECTS not state his own position or beliefs until late
in the decision-making process. Second, the
The phenomenon of audience effects leader should promote open discussion and
takes place when a group of people encourage group members to speak. Third,
passively watch an individual. An example a group or committee can be separated into
would be a sporting event held in an arena. subgroups to increase the chance of
disagreement.
COACTION
INDIVIDUAL VS. GROUP PERFORMANCE
The effect on behavior when two or
more people are performing the same task in When several people individually work on a
the presence of one another. Examples problem but do not interact, they are called a
would be two runners competing against nominal group. When several individuals
each other without a crowd present, or two interact to solve a problem, they are called
mail clerks sorting envelopes in the same an interacting group.
room.
TEAMS
INDIVIDUAL DOMINANCE
Group Behavior, Teams and Conflict
Another variable that can affect
 WORK TEAM
1. Parallel Teams - also called cross
According to Devine, Clayton, Philips, functional teams, consist of representatives
Dunford, and Melner (1999), a work team is from various departments (functions) within
“a collection of three or more individuals who an organization.
interact intensively to provide an
2. Project Teams - are formed to produce
organizational product, plan, decision, or
one time outputs such as creating a new
service”.
product, installing a new software system, or
1. Identification - is the extent to which hiring a new employee. Once the team’s
group members identify with the team rather goal has been accomplished, the team is
than with other groups. dismantled.
2. Management teams - coordinate,
2. Interdependence - In a team, members manage, advise, and direct employees and
need and desire the assistance, expertise, teams.
and opinions of the other members.
HOW TEAMS DEVELOP
3. Power Differentiation - In a team,
members try to decrease power In an influential theory of team development,
differentiation by treating others as equals Tuckman (1965) proposed that teams
and taking steps to ensure equality. typically go through four developmental
phases:
4. Social Distance - In a team, members try
to decrease social distance by being 1. Forming Stage - team members get
casual, using nicknames, and expressing to know each other and decide what
liking, empathy, and common views. roles each member will play. During
the early part of this stage, team
5. Conflict Management Tactics - Team members are on their best behavior.
members respond to conflict by (Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro,2001). 2.
collaborating, whereas non team members Storming Stage – during this stage, the
respond by forcing and accommodating. In good behavior disappears. On an
non-teams, members react to conflict by individual level, team members often
threatening, directing, or giving in. become frustrated with their roles, show
6. Negotiation Process - In teams, the stress of balancing their previous
members negotiate in a win–win style in duties with their new team
which the goal is for every person to come responsibilities, and question whether
out ahead. In non teams, members negotiate they have the ability to accomplish the
so that they win and the other members goals set in the forming stage.
lose. 3. Norming Stage – In this stage, the
team works toward easing the
tension from the storming stage.
4. Performing Stage - the team begins
to accomplish its goals. (Marks et al.,
2001).
TYPES OF TEAMS 12 common problems encountered by
teams Let’s look at the 6 most important
ones.
Group Behavior, Teams and Conflict
1. Team is not a team - Consistent with
the previous discussion, teams often GROUP CONFLICT
aren’t successful because they are Conflict is the psychological and behavioral
teams in name only. reaction to a perception that another person
2. Excessive Meeting Requirements - is keeping you from reaching a goal, taking
A common problem with teams is away your right to behave in a particular
that they either meet too infrequently way, or violating the expectancies of a
or relationship.
meet so often that they waste time
when they do meet.
3. Lack of empowerment - Many teams
TYPES OF CONFLICT
are formed to solve problems but are
not given sufficient authority to 1.Interpersonal conflict occurs between
conduct their business. According to two individuals. In the workplace,
Moran et al. (1996), teams aren’t interpersonal conflict might occur between
empowered because managers two coworkers, a supervisor and a
worry that the job won’t be done subordinate, an employee and a customer,
correctly, the teams are moving too or an employee and a vendor.
fast, and the teams will overstep their
boundaries such that other parts of 2.Individual–group conflict usually occurs
the organization will be affected. when the individual’s needs are different
4. Lack of Skill - It is assumed that from the group’s needs, goals, or norms.
members assigned to a team have 3.Group–group conflict occurs annually as
the skills necessary to effectively departments fight for budget allocations and
carry out their assignment. space. In industry, company divisions often
5. Distrust of Team Process - Many conflict for the same reasons.
teams don’t succeed because
management doesn’t trust the
concept of teams.
CAUSES OF CONFLICT
6. Unclear Objectives - Teams work
best when they know why they were 1. Competition for Resources - in the
formed, what they are expected to marketplace, when customer demand
accomplish (what the team’s “charge” exceeds product supply, prices increase.
is), and when they are supposed to Similarly, in groups, when demand for a
be finished. resource exceeds its supply, conflict occurs.

2. Task Interdependence - comes when the

performance of some group members
depends on the performance of other group
members.

CONFLICT 3. Jurisdictional Ambiguity - is found when

geographical boundaries or lines of authority
are unclear.
 wants to see the other person win. These
4. Communication Barriers - The barriers
people seek win–win solutions—that is,
to interpersonal communication can be ways in which both sides get what they
physical, such as separate locations on want.
different floors or in different buildings;
cultural, such as different languages or 5. Compromising Style- The user of this
different customs; or psychological, such as type adopts give-and-take tactics that enable
different styles or personalities. each side to get some of what it wants but
not everything it wants. Compromising
5. Beliefs – It is the fifth cause of conflict.
usually involves a good deal of
Conflict is most likely to occur when
individuals or groups believe that they a. Negotiation

• are superior to other people or groups; b. Bargaining

• have been mistreated by others; RESOLVING CONFLICT
• are vulnerable to others and are in
Prior to Conflict Occurring
harm’s way;
• cannot trust others; and/or An organization should have a formal
policy on how conflict is to be handled.
• are helpless or powerless (Eidelson & Usually such a policy will state that
Eidelson, 2003). employees should first try to resolve their
own conflicts, and if that is not successful,
they can utilize a third-party intervention.
6.Personality - A sixth cause of conflict can Employees should receive training on the
be found in the personalities of the people causes of conflict, ways to prevent conflict,
involved. and strategies for resolving conflict.

CONFLICT STYLES When Conflict First Occurs

1.Avoiding Style- Employees using an When conflict first occurs between
avoiding style choose to ignore the conflict coworkers or between a supervisor and a
and hope it will resolve itself. When conflicts subordinate, the two parties should be
are minor and infrequent, this style may be encouraged to use the conflict resolution
fine, but obviously it is not the best way to skills they learned in training to resolve the
handle every type of conflict. conflict on their own.

2.Accommodating Style- When a person is Third-Party Intervention

so intent on settling a conflict that he gives in
and risks hurting himself, he has adopted the If conflict cannot be resolved by the
accommodating style. parties involved, it is often a good idea to
seek help—that is, to ask for third-party
3.Forcing Style- A person with a forcing intervention. This third party usually is
style handles conflict in a win–lose fashion provided through mediation, and if that
and does what it takes to win, with little doesn’t work, through arbitration.
regard for the other person.
With mediation, a neutral third party
4. Collaborating Style- An individual with a is asked to help both parties reach a
collaborating style wants to win but also mutually agreeable solution to the conflict.
 With arbitration, a neutral third party
listens to both sides’ arguments and then
makes a decision.