The Formation of Groups; Roles, Rules, Group
Structure
Falkné dr. Bánó Klára
BGF Külkereskedelmi Főiskolai Kar
Falkne.dr.BanoKlara@kkfk.bgf.hu
falk.cs@t-online.hu
Definition of a psychological group
A psychological group is any number of people
who:
• interact with each other,
• are psychologically aware of each other,
• perceive themselves to be a group.
Characteristics of a psychological group:
•
•
•
•
•
A minimum membership of two people,
A shared communication network,
A shared sense of collective identity,
Shared goals,
Group structure.
Reasons for Formation of Groups
• Certain tasks can only be performed through the
combined efforts of a number of individuals working
together;
• Groups may encourage collusion between members
…providing individuals with opportunities for initiative
and creativity. (e.g. sharing or rotating unpopular
tasks);
• Groups provide companionship and a source of mutual
understanding and support from colleagues;
Reasons for Formation of Groups
• Membership of the group provides the individual with
a sense of belonging;
• The group provides guidelines on generally acceptable
behaviour;
• The group may provide protection for its membership.
- groups are a potential source of motivation/job
satisfaction and a major determinant of effective
organisational performance.
Strong and cohesive workgroups can have beneficial
effects on the organisation. (Mullins)
Types of Groups
Formal:
• Formed from the formal organisational structure
through the division of labour,
• Consciously created by somebody for a reason,
• Have formal structure,
• Are task orientated,
• Tend to be permanent,
• Their activities contribute directly to the organisation’s
collective purpose. (Can be: permanent committees
and temporary formal groups, e.g. task groups)
Types of Groups
Informal:
• Unplanned by the organisation,
• Emerge through and are based on personal
interactions, relationships,
• Serve to satisfy members’ psychological and social
needs,
• They compensate for membership of formal groups
which neglect higher level needs,
• Members may meet on a social basis after work.
Classification scheme for types of groups
GROUPS – Reasons for Joining
• SECURITY AND PROTECTION
• AFFILIATION
• ESTEEM AND IDENTITY
• TASK ACCOMPLISHMENT
The Hawthorne Studies
At Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric
Company, in a suburb of Chicago (1924-1932)
Elton Mayo
Four main research phases:
1. The illumination experiments
2. The Relay Assembly Test Room Study
3. The Interviewing Programme
4. The Bank Wiring Observation room Study
THE CONCLUSIONS
DRAWN FROM THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES
• Workers respond primarily to the social context of the
workplace.
• The workers’ need for recognition and a sense of
belonging are important.
• A person’s attitude to work is shaped by the group to
which he/she belongs in the company.
• Informal groups or cliques are powerful. (4th stage)
The worker is more responsive to the social forces of
his/her peer group than to the controls and incentives
of management.
The Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne studies highlighted the
importance of the informal groups for the
individual to be able to satisfy personal
needs.
Nowadays - more important than ever!
called now – NETWORKING, i.e.meeting
new people, using informal links, using
people and being used by them.
Group formation (adapted from Homans’ theory)
Group Formation (adapted from Homans’ theory)
GROUPS: Stages of Development (Tuckman 1965)
• FORMING – testing and dependancy concerns, the
polite stage
• STORMING – division of power concerns, the ‘why we
are here’ stage, hostility, conflicts emerge, cliques form
• NORMING – rule making concern, ‘bid for power’ stage
norms, rules of acceptable behaviour emerge
• PERFORMING – achieving goals concern, constructive
stage
• ADJOURNING (Tuckman and Jensen 1977) –
disbanding, reflecting
GROUP STRUCTURE
‘…is the relatively stable pattern of relationships
among the differentiated elements in a group.’ (Buchanan)
The differentiation occurs along several dimensions: e.g.
• STATUS – Status structure
• POWER – Power structure
• LIKING – Liking structure
• ROLE – Role structure
• LEADERSHIP – Leadership structure
• COMMUNICATION – Communication structure
GROUP PROCESS
is the sequence of interaction patterns between
the members of the group.
GROUP STRUCTURE and GROUP PROCESS
are interrelated. The STRUCTURE of a group
can affect its PROCESS and vice versa.
THE STRUCTURE-FORMING elements
may differ in two respects:
• whether they consider the EXTERNAL or the
INTERNAL world of the group
• whether they are more TASK - oriented or
PERSONALITY - oriented.
CLASSIFICATION of Structures
Internal factors: role structure - task oriented
liking structure – personality oriented
External factors: power structure – task oriented
status structure – personality oriented
CLASSIFICATION OF STRUCTURES
STATUS STRUCTURE
Status is a prestige ranking within a group.
• FORMAL STATUS – refers to a collection of rights and
obligations associated with a position, as distinct from
the person who occupies that position.
Within an organisation a value is ascribed to a position
by the formal organisation. E.g. Vice President, etc. –
this can be labelled formal status
STATUS STRUCTURE
• SOCIAL STATUS – is the relative ranking that a
person holds and the value of that person as measured
by a group, i.e. the social honour or prestige that is
accorded an individual in a group by the other group
members.
It is a measure of informally established value.
POWER STRUCTURE
Power is the control over persons. Social power is
the potential influence that one person exerts over
another.
French and Raven identified different types of
power base: e.g. Reward power – e.g. mother and child
Coercive power – e.g. traditional father and child concept
Legitimate power – e.g. person accepting a judge’s ruling
Referent power – e.g. a pop fan adopting the hair or dress
style of his idol
Expert power – e.g. professor-student relationship
LIKING STRUCTURE
refers to the way in which members differentiate
themselves in terms of whom they like and do not like.
To identify the liking structure of a group we can use a
technique called - SOCIOMETRY.
SOCIOMETRY is a method of indicating the feelings of
acceptance or rejection or indifference among members of
a group. (originally developed by J. Moreno in 1934)
SOCIOMETRY and SOCIOGRAM
SOCIOMETRY displays patterns of human
relationships in the group and can be
represented diagrammatically in the form of a
SOCIOGRAM
SOCIOGRAM is a visual illustration of the
pattern of interpersonal ralationships derived
from SOCIOMETRY.
Sociogram of a ten-person group
GRAPEVINE STRUCTURE
In an informal group a special kind of
communication system, called
GRAPEVINE emerges.
The most typical forms of GRAPEVINE
Structures:
The most important features of grapevine
communicational networks:
• The grapevine carries information that the formal
system does not wish to carry.
• The grapevine is faster than the formal
communicational network.
• The grapevine is rather accurate.
• The grapevine has its unusual ability to penetrate even
the tightest company security screen because of its
capacity to cut across organisational lines.
ROLE STRUCTURE
SOCIAL ROLE – is the set of behaviours that
are expected of the occupant of a position by
other members of the group.
PERCEIVED ROLE – behaviours which the
person himself believes are appropriate for him
to enact.
ENACTED ROLE – behaviours which the
person actually engages in.
Functions/Roles of Group Members
Members of a group have both task roles/functions and
group maintenance roles/functions.
TASK functions help the group accomplish its task and
include:
• Initiating: suggesting a new idea, a new way of looking
at a problem, or a new activity.
• Seeking useful information or opinions: requesting
facts; asking about feelings; asking for ideas.
• Giving useful information or opinions: offering facts;
stating a belief; making suggestions.
Functions/Roles of Group Members
TASK functions (cont.):
• Clarifying: probing for meaning; defining terms;
restating, enlarging, or stating issues.
• Summarising: reviewing; bringing related ideas
together; restating suggestions of others.
• Consensus testing: checking to see if group is ready to
decide.
Functions/Roles of Group Members
GROUP MAINTENANCE roles help the group to build
feelings and attitude and include:
• Harmonising: compromising; reconciling
disagreements; getting others to explore differences.
• Gate keeping: inviting others to talk; suggesting time
limits or other procedures to permit wide participation;
keeping talk flowing.
• Encouraging: being friendly, warm, responsive through
words or facial expression; agreeing with others.
Functions/Roles of Group Members
GROUP MAINTENANCE roles (cont.):
• Following: going along with the group; being a good
listener; showing that words are heard.
• Standard setting: testing the group’s attitudes toward
its procedures; suggesting procedures; stating values or
ethics; supporting standards.
How group formation is related to job content and process
and to task and maintenance roles/functions