Transcript What is a group?

ABC of
Group Psychology
Turid Suzanne Berg-Nielsen, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology NTNU,
EiT’s goals for learning
• Understanding of ones own competencies
and how these may contribute to a group
• Ability to cooperate in solving
interdisciplinary tasks
• Awareness of ones behavior and how it
affects a group
• Awareness of how ones behavior is
affected by a group
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
What is a group?
1. Two or more individuals who
are interacting
2. and depend on each other
Group cohesion
• a common ”we”
• some fundamental common interests or
goals
• a minimum of mutual trust
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Any well functioning group may
contribute to increased
selfunderstanding and thus facilitate
psychological maturity only by the
willingess of its members to mutually
expose themselves and feedback each
other’s interactions
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
How to assemble a group?
Heterogeneous
groups
• need some time
• participants may
represent a
corrective to each
other
Homogenous
groups
• facilitate mutual
identification
• more cohesion
• less conflict
• more supportive
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
characteristic group decisions
homogenous groups
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may develop more
extreme positions and
attitudes than each
individual
individuals may hold
back their objections
so not to threaten
cohesion
a lack of inner
corrective may lead to
erroneous decisions
heterogeneous groups
 as a compromise
groups may become
more careful in their
statements than each
individual
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Characteristic, but unfortunate
group behavior
• Passivity (the bystander-effect)
• ”social loafing” = reduced effectivity
because individual contributions
apparently doesn’t matter
• Dilution of responsibility
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Other forms of characteristic
group behavior
(– or immature ways of handling
insecurity)
• dependency
• fight/flight
• pairing
• projection
(Wilfred Bion, 1961)
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Resistance in groups
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•
•
silence
withdrawal
absence
preoccupation
with others to
avoid exposure of
oneself
• monopolize
• defocusing
• preoccupation
with irrelevant
matters
• blind competition
• subgroups
• finding scapegoats
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
What may impede
productivity in a group?
• Lack of open communication
between group members
• ”social loafing”
• Suppressed disagreement among
group members
• Lack of will to compromise
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Persons who do not function
well in groups
• intense rivalry
• acting out
• controlling
• social anxiety
• very low self esteem
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
What to do when progress in a
group comes to a halt?
• Start with here and now!
• Talk about how the group is functioning
together
• How group members are interacting
• What can be changed and how
• Everybody should say something
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Developmental stages
in groups
Orientation stage
• dependency on leader
• the group members are typically are
hesitant, fence-sitting & careful
• preoccupied with rules, goals and
purpose of the group
• ok with breaking the ice activities
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Disagreement stage
• less preoccupied with getting
acceptance from others
• irritation with others
• rivalry & issues of dominance
• discontent with facililtator
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Cohesive stage
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•
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•
consensus on norms for the group
increased security and confidence
more personal exposure
more spontaneous support and mutual
encouragement
• authority conflicts resolved
• more self-reflection, openness and
willingness to dwell on and feedback
each other about interpersonal
functioning TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Tuckmans (1965/77)
5 developmental group stages
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Conflict management
(Chiriac & Hempel, 2005)
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What is the problem?
Why has it become a problem?
For whom is it a problem?
Possible solutions?
When to ask for external help?
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
Prerequisites for successfull
conflict management
• Change of attitude towards increased empathy
among participants involved in the conflict
• Courage to cut through when conflict is
persistent, destructive and unreasonably timeconsuming
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU
What can you learn from a group?
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Mutuality
Universality
Togetherness
Openness
Model-learning
Give and receive feedback
Self-acceptance through support of others
Awareness of own behavior and how it affects
others
• Awareness og how a group affects own behavior
TS Berg-Nielsen, 21/2-07, NTNU