Chapter Overview

Understanding the reasons people have for being part of a particular group is important. People belong to groups because of (1) interpersonal attraction, (2) attraction to the group's activities, (3) attraction to the group's goals, (4) valuing group affiliation, and (5) fulfillment of needs outside the group. Attraction is related to pleasing physical characteristics, similarity in attitude, belief, personality, race, and economic status, as well as to perceived ability of the other person. The reasons people belong to groups are related to needs that can be reinforced in order to develop commitment.

Groups, like people, move through phases. Robert F. Bales, B. Aubrey Fisher, Marshall Scott Poole, and C. J. G. Gersick present evidence of this. Their work suggests that groups move through four stages: (1) orientation, (2) conflict, (3) emergence, and (4) reinforcement. Poole suggests three activity areas--task, relationship, and topic. Each may follow this phase cycle at different paces. These phases seem to serve certain needs, and, when phases are skipped, problems may result. The orientation phase allows members to understand the task and one another. The conflict stage serves the function of testing ideas on the way to consensus. The emergence phase serves to produce a decision, heal the wounds of conflict, and generate consensus. The reinforcement phase helps members to believe that they have done good work and generates satisfaction and commitment. The ability to identify these phases allows a person to discover if the group has skipped a phase, to anticipate the group's movement through the phase, and to know if the group has become stalled in a phase. C. J. G. Gersick presents a punctuated equilibrium model that suggests groups often reevaluate their productivity midway through their deliberations. At this point they mask adjustments to better achieve their goal.

Social tension in groups is both beneficial and harmful. A group needs a certain amount of tension to help hold it together and keep it active. Too much tension can be more than a group is able to tolerate. Tensions experienced as a group is forming are called primary tensions. These result from uneasiness among the members and uncertainty about the task. Other tensions develop as the group is working out roles and norms. These might be about leadership and about perceptions regarding procedure, personalities, and values. This tension level exhibits a phaselike structure in the healthy group. Groups manage tension through tension releasers, mediation, scapegoating, and direct confrontation. It is important that groups manage tension to keep it at a level that allows productivity.

Thomas M. Scheidel and Laura Crowell suggest that idea development follows a spiral structure. A reach-test cycle consists of four parts: the suggestion of an idea, agreement to the idea by others, presentation of examples to clarify the idea, and affirmation that the information confirms the original assertion. Groups move from an anchor point, a point of decision, to the next idea. Rejection of the idea means that the group moves back to its last anchor point and suggests a new idea to be reach-tested. This four-part cycle probably serves to reinforce the group's commitment to its decision. Leaders should not be unduly concerned about the apparent inefficiency this creates.