Session 2

Question 1

What is a group?

Answer 1

A group is formed where two or more persons interact with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other.

Question 2

Give an overview of how group members function in a group.

Answer 2

Group members generally feel that they belong together; they see themselves as forming a single unit. This is because the group members share common beliefs and attitudes and accept certain norms of the group.

Group members share at least one common goal.

Question 3

What is the structure of groups?

Answer 3

Groups have boundaries and within these boundaries, structure is determined by rules and roles to manage behaviour therefore groups should be viewed as systems of rules and positions as well as bodies consisting of individual members.

Question 4

What is a norm in the context of a group?

Answer 4

A rule that governs a specific behaviour and applies to everyone in the group.

Question 5

What is the significance of norms and roles in group?

Answer 5

They give the group structure

They allow the group members to feel save in the group and help predict the behaviour of other group members.

They keep a group functioning as a system instead of a collection of individuals.

Question 6

What is a role in the context of a group?

Answer 6

A role defines the obligations and expectations of a person in a particular position.

Question 7

List the group development stages.

Answer 7

Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning

Question 8

What happens during the forming stage?

Answer 8

Group members identify a leader and discuss the nature of their task. They become orientated to the tasks and well as one another. Things are kept simple to avoid controversy.

Question 9

What happens during the storming stage?

Answer 9

There is competition and conflict in the personal-relations dimension and organisation in the task-functions dimension.

Conflict erupt as each member attempts to gain control and establish his or her position within the hierarchy.

Individuals have to bend and mould of their feelings, ideals and beliefs to suit the group organisation in the end.

The whole process is about positioning and adaptation.

Question 10

What happens during the norming stage?

Answer 10

The group focuses on reducing the conflict and work to develop rules to guide the behaviour of group members. cohesiveness develops. Group members begin to experience a sense of belonging and a feeling of relief as a result of resolving interpersonal conflicts. The major task is to share feelings and ideas and to give feedback.

Question 11

What happens during the performing stage?

Answer 11

Group members work together to achieve mutual goals and cooperation develops. The task function becomes genuine problem-solving, leading to optimal solutions and optimum group development.

Question 12

What happens during the adjourning stage?

Answer 12

There is termination of tasks and recognition for participating and achievement is given and members are given the opportunity to say their goodbyes.

Question 13

List the group dynamics.

Answer 13

In or out
Top or bottom
Near or far
New members and departure

Question 14

What does the In or Out group dynamic entail?

Answer 14

Group members are primarily concerned with acceptance and non-acceptance and communication is often superficial. The leader’s primary role is to promote trust and safety and to help members find common ground.

Question 15

What does the top or bottom group dynamic entail?

Answer 15

There is jockeying for position is of control and the members are primarily concerned with being accepted as different. Criticism for one another and hostility towards the leader are far more often heard. The group members have expectations for the leader and will be greatly disappointed should the leader fail to fulfil their dreams.

Question 16

What does the near or far group dynamic entail?

Answer 16

The primary concern for the group members is intimacy and closeness and there is trust, cooperation and openness. The group matures into a group where there is focus, flexibility compassion and a greater tolerance for affect. There is also a realistic appraisal of the leader.

Question 17

What does the New members and departure group dynamic entail?

Answer 17

When new members join the group, they give a feeling of uncertainty to the present group members as they don’t know where the new members will fit in. When members leave the group it requires the group to regroup also.

Question 18

List the group characteristics.

Answer 18

Group size
Cohesiveness
Communication
Group composition
Leadership

Question 19

Briefly explain the group characteristic of group size.

Answer 19

This refers to the number of members in a given group. Larger groups have more resources to focus on the task but the increase in size also creates the likelihood of significant process loss. The ideal group size as between 5 and 10 members.

Question 20

Briefly explain the group characteristic of cohesiveness.

Answer 20

This refers to the desire of group members to stay in the group and it is measured by how attracted the group members are to each other. It also refers to the forces, both positive and negative, that cause members to remain in a group. Group cohesiveness varies widely based on numerous factors within the group.

Question 21

Briefly describe the group characteristic of communication.

Answer 21

Communication is essential to all group activities and is the responsibility of both the speaker and the listener. The speaker must actively seek to express ideas in a clear and concise manner and the listener must actively seek to understand what has been said and to ask for clarification.

Question 22

Briefly explain the group characteristic of group composition.

Answer 22

This Focuses on how the group was established. Was it an informal getting together or was it by invitation or were members allocated to the group? These factors play an important role in the composition of the group. It also involves whether or not the group is a mixed-sex group or a same-sex group. There has been evidence that mixed-sex groups perform better.

Question 23

Briefly describe the group characteristic of leadership.

Answer 23

This has to do with how the leader was appointed. Was it by voting or mutual agreement? What style does the leader follow? The answers to these questions will influence the functioning of the group.

Question 24

Explain the influence of a group on an individual’s performance with regards to social facilitation.

Answer 24

People sometimes perform better in the presence of others than when they are alone and this is called social facilitation. In some instances the presence of others sometimes inhibits an individual’s performance and this is called social inhibition.

Question 25

Explain the influence of a group on an individual’s performance with regards to social loafing.

Answer 25

Research indicates that a group sometimes performs better than an individual does when it comes to a purely physical task, however that is not always the case. Sometimes the performance of an individual decreases when they are working in a group and this is called social loafing. Reasons behind this may be a lack of identification with the group or some feel that they can ‘hide in a crowd’ within the group setting.

Question 26

Explain the influence of a group on an individual’s performance with regards to the social impact theory.

Answer 26

The social impact theory addresses the more general issue of how strong an influence (either positive or negative) group members have on one another. The ‘observers’ within the group will have a social impact on individual members.

There are 3 main influencing factors:

1. Numbers - as the number of observers increases, so does their impact
2. Social forces - refers to the strength of the social forces i.e. the. Importance or influence of the observers. Strength is determined by factors such as status, age and relationship between the individual and those others.
3. Immediacy - the closeness of the observers to the individual in time or space.