OBJECTIVES:

 1. Discuss two classification systems of interpersonal needs and describe how they relate to group formation.
 2. Explain the potential conflict between individual goals and group goals.
 3. Suggest ways of establishing mutuality of concern in a work group.
 4. Identify and explain four factors that are elements of interpersonal attraction.
 5. Identify and describe three factors in group attraction.
 6. Facilitate a group’s movement through the initial stages of group formation.
 

        A. Membership in groups does not happen randomly.
        B. Groups meet specific needs and perform special functions.
        C. All of the groups people belong to reflect personal decisions
        D. Why do people join groups?
             a. Interpersonal Needs
             b. Individual Goals
             c. Group Goals
             d. Interpersonal Attraction
             e. Group Attraction

II. Interpersonal Need

        A. Maslow’s Theory of Motivation (survival needs and psychological needs)
            a. Physiological Need
            b. Safety Need
            c. Belongingness Need
            d. Esteem Need
            e. Self-Actualization Need

        B. Schutz’s Fundamental Interpersonal Relations (FIRO) Theory
            a. Inclusion Need (belongingness and esteem)
            b. Control Need (need for status and power)
            c. Affection Need (emotional support, warmth and closeness)
            d. Continuing Cycle of Group Process (formation patterns repeat themselves as groups develop over time)
            e. Groups pass through observable, cyclical phases of these needs.

III. Individual Goals

        A. Goals that exist apart from any particular group membership.
        B. People bring individual goals with them when they join groups.

IV. Group Goals

        A. Identifiable goals that transcend the group members’ individual goals.
        B. Group goal should integrate but supersede individual goals.
        C. A potential source of conflict exists when individual needs and goals are incompatible with the group’s goal.

V. Establishing Mutuality of Concern (balancing individual and group needs)

        A. The degree to which members share the same level of commitment to a group.
        B. The degree to which members are concerned with the group’s task must be clarified at the outset.
        C. Unsatisfied or unclarified individual needs and goals can become hidden agendas (private goals toward which individuals work).
        D. Culture is an important factor in balancing individual and group needs.
        E. Barge and Frey’s Theory of Group Dialectics
            a. The product of two ideas being equally valid when considered alone, but contradictory when paired.
            b. The interaction of individual and group needs will cause one of four possible outcomes:

   1) no positive effects (diverse goals)
   2) group goals are realized to the exclusion of individual needs.
   3) individual needs are realized to the destruction of the group.
   4) individual and group needs are both realized (blended goals)
 
F. Mutuality of Concern can merge individual and group needs and goals.

        A. Similarity
             a. One of the strongest influences in interpersonal attraction
             b. Danger is an overly-homogeneous group which is not capable of approaching a complex task effectively.

B. Complementarity
    a. Attraction to others who exhibit qualities that they do not have but that they admire.
    b. Thibaut and Kelley’s Social Exchange Theory

C. Proximity, Contact, and Interaction
D. Physical Attractiveness
 

        A. Group Activities
        B. Group Goals
        C. Group Membership

VIII. Putting Principles into Practice

 A. People are attracted to groups for different reasons and join groups to satisfy a variety of needs.
 B. Self-disclosure will help to reduce uncertainty.
 C. When assigned to a group, carefully investigate the group’s goal in order to determine what resources you can bring to accomplishing that goal.
 D. Talk about your level of commitment in order to establish mutuality of concern.
 E. Practice
        a. Comparison of Active Group Ratings
        b. Group attraction
        c. Role Play - First Church of Roseville
        d. Videotaped Group Discussion Analysis