OBJECTIVES:

• Describe some of the Central Issues (nature, function, relevance) of Group Communication Theory.
• Discuss Five General Theories that apply to Small Group Communication.
• Explain the Constellation Model of Small Group Communication.
• Identify some of the Components of Small Group Communication.

 

• Theories are very practical.
• Theory building is a common, natural process of human communication.
• Theory is crucial to the study of small group communication.
• Two basic functions of theory: to explain AND to predict.
• Theories are built when we observe a phenomenon and witness a repeated pattern of events for which warrant explanation.
• Theory is simply "the organization of information to explain and ultimately predict a phenomenon."
• A scientific theory allows us to make reasonably precise predictions.

• Theory helps us recognize the presence of conditions that call for certain actions.
• Explanatory Function
• helps to understand a process and the ways in which different facets of it are related. (diagnosis)
• helps make sense of the processes involved when people interact with others in a group.

 
• Predictive Function
• informs communicative behavior (methods of treatment- what to do with what you know).
• "How-to" theories.
• Establish formats for solving problems and resolving group conflicts.
• Allows people to anticipate probable outcomes of various types of communicative behavior in groups.
• understanding and being aware of possible alternative behaviors allows us to use theory to select behaviors that will help in the achievement of goals.
• Specific Group Theories

• Descriptive Theories - PROCESS theories
• leadership theories
• theories of group growth and development
• problem-solving theories
• theories of interpersonal interaction
• Prescriptive Theories - METHOD theories
• allow us to reasonably predict that certain outcomes will follow certain types of communication.
• allow us to regulate behavior to achieve desirable results

• Communication is the vehicle that allows a group to move towards its goals.
• purpose of group communication is to reduce uncertainty.
• communication occurs any time meaning is assigned to an internal or external stimulus.
• Uncertainty and complexity are pervasive characteristics of small groups.
• Communication is the driving force that moves groups toward their goals.

• Small group theory attempts to explain and predict small group phenomena.

 
• Social Exchange Theory
• Groups remain attractive to their members as long as the rewards of group membership exceed the costs.
• Rewards include fellowship, job satisfaction, achievement, status, goal achievement, personal need fulfillment.
• Costs include frustration, mental effort, anxiety, embarrassment.
• Cohesiveness and Productivity are directly related to how rewarding the group experience is to its members.

 
• Rules Theory
• For successful communication to take place, group members must share followable, prescriptive rules that structure their interaction.
• Rules can be understood as if-then statements.
• Underlying principle is a condition-action structure of rules.
• A Rule is a "followable prescription that indicates what behavior is obligated, preferred, or prohibited in certain contexts."
• Group theory and research refers to rules as norms.
• Once established, group norms direct the group's activities.
• Understanding rules theory and its application to small groups can help you to encourage norms which are productive and avoid those that are dysfunctional.

 
• Systems Theory
• The small group is an open system composed of interdependent elements-that receives input, processes the input, and yields anoutput.
• Systems theory provides the most prevalent approach to the study of small groups. It represents the most promising perspective on small group communication (flexible, large # of variables that influence small group interaction).

 
• Symbolic Convergence Theory
• Group members develop a group consciousness and identity through the sharing of fantasies or stories which are often chained together and have a common theme.
• Explains how certain types of communication shape a group's identity and culture, which in turn influence other dynamics such as norms, roles, and decision making.
• Over time groups develop a collective consciousness with shared emotions, motives, and meanings.
• A fantasy theme consists of the common or related content of the stories the group tells.
• A fantasy chain is a string of connected stories that revolve around a common theme.

 
• Structuration Theory
• People use rules and resources in interaction to structure social systems.
• Helps explain why and how groups develop the rules and behavior patterns they adopt.
• Especially useful in helping understand group communication within broader organizational cultures.

• New information technologies are restructuring how we communicate.
• Group Decision Support System (GDSS) - any computer-based information system used to support intellectual collaborative work.
• GDSSs include technological support for agenda setting, rules for discussion (parliamentary procedure), and communication technologies that allow multiple users to interact simultaneously.
• New technologies will increasingly reshape how groups make decisions and solve problems.
• Technology does not necessarily result in any particular group outcome; it is how the group works technology into its interaction that has the impact.

• The constellation model is a comprehensive framework that suggests features and relationships critical to an understanding of small group communication.
• The framework depicts small group communication as a constellation of variables, each related to every other.
• Communication establishes and maintains the relationships among these essential variables.
• The seven essential variables are communication, leadership, goals, norms, roles, cohesiveness, and situation.
• Small group communication theory seeks to explain the relationships among these and other variables and to make predictions based on such explanations.

• Scientific theories explain consistencies in communicative behavior that researchers have observed within small groups.
• Theories allow us to predict the probable consequences of various actions.
• Observe groups of which you are a member. As you do apply the following theories:
• Social exchange theory - to describe satisfaction levels.
• Systems theory - to organize interpretations of group actions.
• Symbolic convergence theory - to understand the group personality (rules, roles, decision making).
• Structuration theory- to increase your influence in any group.
• The practicality of our theories is measured only by how we can use them to be more effective group leaders, members, and scholars.

 
• Exercises

 
• List of Informal Theories about Ordinary Day
• Rules that Govern Behavior in Groups: If . . . Then
• The Importance of Situation (context) - Class Simulation