PSY 3181 Lecture Notes - Punctuated Equilibrium, Social Loafing, Personal Development
29 May 2018
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IV. GROUPS & TEAMS (Slides of note: #5-6, 11, 13, 17-18, 21-22) A. Group
performance can be influenced by many factors, such as:
1. Level of cohesiveness & homogeneity – smaller group is best for cohesiveness
2. Group size
3. Presence of others
4. Social loafing – free rider theory
5. Individual dominance – by group leader or member
6. Groupthink - Developed by Janis, groupthink is a mode of thinking that individuals engage in
when the desire to agree becomes so dominant in a cohesive group that it overrides the
realistic appraisal of alternatives
i Errors are highly insulated, feel threatened by outside pressures. Strong pressure
for conformity
B. Work teams are a specific type of group which:
1. Are interdependent and well-defined
2. Have one or more tasks to perform
3. Operate within an organizational context
4. Possess low power differentiation and low social distance
5. Are an increasingly common method for structuring work
6. Are not always effective (due to both internal and external factors)
C. Theories of team development by tuckman
1. Forming
i get to know each other
2. storming
i begin to question each other. Disagreements begin
3. norming
i becomes cohesive and united. Roles, norms, and trust develops.
4. Performing
i performing and productive. Task orientation is high.
5. adjourning stages
i the group is dissolved
6. Punctuated equilibrium – gersick
i Teams do not go through set stages
ii Basic method of formation
iii Develop direction and strategy during the 1st meeting
1 Follow this direction for a period of time
2 Revise the strategy about halfway through the life of the team
iv More flexile tha tuka’s
v What’s ad is that work gets piled up ad eoes resided
D. Successful work team:
1. Three-dimensional conception of work team effectiveness:
i Quality / quantity / timeliness
ii The ability to work together again
iii Personal growth & well-being
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