Norberto Orozco Portales III Group Dynamics Report

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Theories in Group Dynamics

MOTIVATIONAL MODELS Habits, goals, instincts, expectations, and drives prompt group members to take action (Geen, 1995). The word motivation comes from the verb “to move”.

MOTIVATIONAL MODELS The theory assumes that people enter achievement situations with an ideal outcome in mind – for example, earning an A in course, winning the game, or making a specific amount of money. Over time, however, people may revise their expectations as they repeatedly fail or succeed in reaching their ideals. Lewin used the term level of aspiration (LOA) to describe this compromise between ideal goals and more realistic expectations.

MOTIVATIONAL MODELS Level-of-aspiration theory – a theoretical perspective developed by Lewin that explains how people set goals for themselves and their groups. Motivations – wants, needs, and other psychological processes that energize certain responses, prompting people to respond in one way rather another.

MOTIVATIONAL MODELS Alvin Zander (1971/1996) applied LOA theory to groups by studying how individual members set goals for their groups and how they revise their goals after each group success or failure. When group members complete a task, they expend considerable mental energy reviewing their efforts and outcomes. They gather and weight information about their performance and determine if they met the group’s standards. They review the strategies they used to accomplish their task and determine if these strategies require revisions. They also plan their future undertakings, ever mindful of the long- term goals they have set for themselves.

BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES Behaviorism – a theoretical orientation that describes the way behaviors are learned through such conditioning processes as stimulus response associations and reinforcement Skinner recommended studying the things that people actually do rather than the psychological states that may have instigated the action. And actions as Skinner believed tend to be consistent with the law of effect; that is, behaviors that are followed by positive consequences, such as rewards will occur more frequently whereas behaviors that are followed by negative consequences will become rarer.

BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES Social Exchange Theory – an economic model of interpersonal relationships that argues that individuals seek out relationships that offer them many rewards while exacting few costs. John Thibaut and Harold Kelley’s (1959) social exchange theory extended Skinner’s behaviorism to groups. They agreed that individual hedonistically strive to maximize their rewards and minimize their costs. But when individual join groups, they no longer control their outcomes. Groups create interdependence among members, so that the actions of each group member potentially influence the outcomes and actions of every other group member.

SYSTEMIZING THEORIES Systems Theory – A general theoretical approach that assumes that groups are systems – collections of individual units that combine to form an integrated, complex whole.

SYSTEMIZING THEORIES Researchers in a variety of fields repeatedly found that unique results are obtained when a system is formed by creating dependency among formerly independent components. Systems synthesize several parts or subsystems to form a unified whole. Because systems are based on interrelated parts, it can change to an extraordinary degree when one of their constituent component changes. A systems theory approach assumes that groups are systems of interacting individuals. Indeed, this definition of a system could easily serve as a definition of a group:

SYSTEMIZING THEORIES A system is a set of interacting units with relationships among them. The word “set” implies that the units have some common properties. These common properties are essential if the units are to interact or have relationships. The state of each unit is constrained by, conditioned by, or dependent on the state of other units. The units are coupled. Moreover, there is at least one measure of the sum of its units which is larger than the sum of that measure of its units. (Miller, 1978)

SYSTEMIZING THEORIES The communication of information – a key concept in systems theory – similarly plays a central role in groups that must analyze inputs, provide feedback to members, and formulate decisions regarding group action. Larger groups may be built on a number of smaller subsystems, all of which are integrated into an over-all Gestalt.

SYSTEMIZING THEORIES Systems theory provides a model for understanding a range of group-level processes, including group development, productivity, and interpersonal conflict. (Tubbs, 1995)

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