Group structure - Lecture notes 10 PDF

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Group Process and Group structure are the important theory of Group Dynamics...

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GROUP STRUCTURE

Introduction: Refers to interrelationship between the individuals constituting a group .It includes basic understanding of the following -1) Formal leadership 2) Roles 3) Norms 4) Status 5) Size and 6) Composition .  Roles: Means a set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit. Role Perception

Role Identity

Group Roles

Role Conflict

Role Expectation

Figure: The Role Components 1. Role Identity: The Attitudes and behaviors consistent with a role create role identity. a) People have the ability to shift roles rapidly when they recognize that the situation and its demands clearly requires major changes. For example: When Mr. Anand was a steward his attitude towards the employees union was pro-union .After one week he was promoted to the position of supervisor .After promotion Mr Anand’s attitude is promanagement.

b)When the situation is vague and the role one has to play is less clear ;people often revert to old role identities. b) Role Perception:It is one’s views of how one is supposed to act in a given situation.  Where do we get these perceptions????????  From the stimuli all around us. For example –Friends, books, movies, exposure to media etc. Apprenticeship programs allow individuals to watch an ‘expert ‘ so they can learn to act the way they are supposed to. c) Role Expectation : Are defined as how others believe you should act in a given situation .When role expectations are concentrated into generalized categories we have role stereotypes. For example – a) Football Coach – role expectation – Aggressive, dynamic and inspiring players of his team. b) Stereotypes: woman’s role

In 1950’s stay at Today the number home take care of of working housewives the house and has increased. husband raise the children.

d) Role Conflict : When the individual is confronted by divergent role expectations. The result is role conflict. Reasons: 1. When an individual finds that the compliance with one role will make compliance with another role difficult role conflict takes place. 2. It may occur when two or more role expectations are mutually contradicting.

Outcome: 1. Increases internal tension. 2. Frustration and dissatisfaction 3. Decreases performance 4. Disturbed Organisation 5. Job tension and stress. Remedy: 1.It cannot be completely planned away from the organisation. 2. It can be minimized through participatory management. 3. Persuasion and group pressure can be exercised. Expected Role Role Ambiguity

Perceived Role Role Conflict

Actual Role

Figure: Role Conflict is an outcome of Role Ambiguity  Norms: Norms are acceptable standard of behavior within a group that are shared by the group members.

Characteristics: 1. Norms tells members what they ought or ought not to do under certain circumstances. 2. They differ among groups, communities and societies but they all have them. 3. How Norms form: Norms typically develop gradually as group members learn what behaviors are necessary for the group to function effectively when agreed to and accepted by the group they become norms.

4. Norms act as a means of influencing the behavior of group members with a minimum of external controls. 5. In organisation: formalized norms are written up in organisational manuals, setting out rules and procedures for employees to follow. Note: By far the majority of norms in organisations are informal.

 Common Norms in organisations are related to : 1. Levels of effort and performance. 2. Formal dress code 3. Loyalty Norms

 Importance: 1. It facilitates the group survival: groups try to protect themselves from interference from other groups or individuals. 2. It increases the predictability of group member’s behavior. 3. It reduces interpersonal problems for group members. 4. It allows members to express the central values of group and clarify what is destructive about the group’s identity. Performance Norms (Related to performance) For eg. How to get the job done.

Norms for allocation of resources

Social Arrangement Norms ( regulates interactions within the group)

Norms Types

For eg. Tools, equipments, assignment of task/job etc.

Appearance Norms (how to appear oneself)

Norms Types: Organisations norms are like an individual fingerprint- each is unique.

 Status: Status is a socially defined position or rank given to group (s) or group members. Status and stress are factors which can contribute to the

selection of irrational norms. Useful information will often be ignored if it comes from a low status group member

Experiments : Group membership & norms and pressure to conform Schachter (1959) conducted a classic experiment which showed how fear influences affiliation - " frightened people seek company; if possible they seek the company of people also frightened by the something". Sarnoff [1961] investigated this phenomenon further and showed that anxiety seemed to lead to less affiliation.

Sherif (1936) used the autokinetic phenomenon (apparent movement of a light in a darkened room) to show the importance of group norms in influencing perception; few subjects were conscious that their judgment had been influenced by others - the social influence was convert and its effect is long lasting.

Asch (1956) demonstrated that pressures to conform within a group are such that people can distort quite simple judgmental processes to satisfy the group norms - only 25% of subjects remained unaffected by group pressure, 33% conformed on more than one half of the trials they faced and 32% of all judgements were wrong; subjects who yielded to pressure thought up a variety of rationalisations for their behaviour and in general it was the people who remained independent who apparently felt the greatest stress and discomfort. The effect varied with the size of majority, although increasing the majority above 4 to 1 had little added effect in producing erroneous judgements; similarly, the presence of one other independent subject abolished the reaction almost entirely (5.5% erroneous responses).

Conclusions: The above experiment suggests that in times of stress, people are less critical of group norms, and this can lead to the establishment and acceptance of norms that are not in the best interests of the group....