GROUP DYNAMICS | LESSON 4: FORMATION

JOINING GROUPS - The basic styles include secure, preoccupied, fearful,

PERSONALITY TRAITS and dismissing, as defined by the dimensions of
anxiety and avoidance
People differ in personality, motivations, past experiences,
and expectations, and these individual differences influence
their degree of interest in joining groups
PERSONALITY
- It refers to the unique and enduring patterns of
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that characterize an
individual
- It influences how people interact with the world,
make decisions, and relate to others
- It is shaped by both genetic and environmental
factors
FIVE-FACTOR MODEL (BIG FIVE THEORY)
- A conceptual model of the primary dimensions that
structure individual differences in personality
- EXTRAVERSION
o Engagement and interest in social
interactions
- AGREEABLENESS
SOCIAL MOTIVATION
o Cooperative orientation to others, acceptance,
frankness, modesty, sympathy NEED FOR AFFILIATION
- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS - A motivating state of tension that can be relieved by
o Persistence in the pursuit of tasks, self- joining with other people, which frequently includes
concerns about winning the approval of other people
confidence, orderliness, meeting of
NEED FOR INTIMACY
obligation
- A motivating state of tension that can be relieved by
- NEUROTICISM
seeking out warm, positive relationships with others
o Strong emotional proclivities, anxiety,
NEED FOR POWER
hostility, negative affect, shyness, stressors
- A motivating state of tension that can be relieved by
- OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
gaining control over other people and one’s
o Active pursuit of intellectually and
environment
aesthetically stimulating experiences,
FUNDAMENTAL INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
imagination, fantasy, appreciation of art
ORIENTATION (FIRO) (William Schutz)
ANXIETY AND ATTACHMENT - A theory of group formation and development that
SHYNESS emphasizes compatibility among three basic social
- The dispositional tendency to feel discomfort and motives: inclusion, control, and affection
nervousness when dealing with social situations - FIRO theory assumes that people join groups, and
- When shyness escalates, it may turn to social anxiety remain in them, because they meet one or more of
SOCIAL ANXIETY these basic needs
- A feeling of apprehension and embarrassment when
interacting with other people or anticipating the
former
EXPERIENCE SAMPLING
- Research method that asks participants to record their
thoughts, emotions or behavior at the time they are
MEN, WOMEN, AND GROUPS
experiencing them rather than at a later time or date
SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER Men and women differ in tendency to join groups.
- A persistent and pervasive pattern of overwhelming - Women are often extravert than men
anxiety and self-consciousness experienced when - Women are higher in relationality which is the degree
anticipating or actually interacting with other people to which their values, attitudes, and outlook
ATTACHMENT STYLE emphasize establishing and maintaining connections
- One’s characteristic approach to relationships with to others
other people - Women value their relationships more than men but
they are not more social
GROUP DYNAMICS | LESSON 4: FORMATION
- Men seek membership in larger, more formal , task-
focused groups while women seek membership in
smaller informal intimate groups

ATTITUDES, EXPERIENCES, AND EXPECTATIONS

People’s attitudes, experiences and expectations are all factors
that influence their decision to join a group
- Individuals who had prior positive experiences in
groups tends to seek out further group
- Two key factors that influence participation in a
social movement are sense of justice and angry
emotions
COLLABORATIVE CIRCLE
- A relatively small group of peers who work together SOCIAL COMPARISON AND THE SELF
for an extended period of time, exchanging ideas for DOWNWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON
commentary and critique and developing a shared - Selecting people who are worse off to compare
conception of what their methods and goals should be oneself
SOCIAL MOVEMENT UPAWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON
- A deliberate, sustained, and organized group of - Selecting people who are superior/better off to
individuals seeking change or resisting a change in a compare oneself with
social system SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE (SEM)
(ABRAHAM TESSER)
AFFILIATION - Suggests that people keep their self-esteem up by
- The gathering of individuals in one location their choice of association. They do by associating
- Festinger’s (1950) theory of social comparison with individuals who achieve high on areas irrelevant
assumes that affiliation is more likely when to the individual’s self-esteem. And by avoiding
individuals find themselves in ambiguous, association with people that are high-achieving in
frightening, and difficult circumstances areas which are important to the individual’s sense of
self-esteem
- Suggests, we will graciously celebrate others’
accomplishments, provided they perform very well
on tasks that are not central to our sense of self-worth
SOCIAL COMPARISON ORIENTATION
- The dispositional tendency to compare oneself to
SOCIAL COMPARISON
others
- Tendency to compare one’s qualities and outcomes
ATTRACTION
such as attitudes, experiences, and beliefs with others
MISERY LOVES COMPANY PRINCIPLES OF ATTEACTION
- People prefer to affiliate when fearful PROXIMTY PRINCIPLE
MISERY LOVES MISERABLE COMPANY - The tendency for individuals to form interpersonal
- Prefer to join individuals who have useful relations with those who are close by; also known as
information about a situation and others who are in the “Principle of Propinquity”
similar situation ELLABORATION PRINCIPLE
EMBARASSED MIDERY AVOIDS COMPANY - The tendency for groups to expand in size as
- Fear of embarrassment reduces affiliation nonmembers become linked to a group member and
STRESS AND AFFILIATION thus become part of the group itself; this process is
SAFETY IN NUMBERS termed percolation in network theory
SIMILARITY PRINCIPLE
- People like others who are similar to them in some
way
- HOMOPHILY – LOVE OF THE SAME
o The tendency for the members of groups and
other collectives to be similar to one another
in some way, such as demographic back
ground, attitudes, and values
GROUP DYNAMICS | LESSON 4: FORMATION
COMPLIMENTARY PRINCIPLE
- The tendency to form opposites to attract one another
when dissimilarities are complementary
- INTERCHANCE COMPATIBILITY
o Based on their similar needs for inclusion,
affection and control
- ORIGINATOR COMPATIBILITY
o When individuals who wish to express
inclusion, affection, or control will be
matched to those who seek to receive this
RECIPROCITY PRINCIPLE
- The tendency for liking to be met with liking in
return; when A likes B, then B will tend to like A
MINIMAX PRINCIPLE
- A preference for relationships and memberships
which provide the maximum number of valued
rewards and cost us the fewest
THE ECONOMICS OF MEMBERSHIP