Social Psychology Group Processes

According to Cartwright & Zander (1968), a group may be defined as a “collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree”. Other definitions state that a group is “two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person (Shaw, 1981). Turner (1987) goes further to say that “a psychological group is one that is psychologically significant for the members, to which they relate themselves subjectively for social comparison and the acquisitions of norms and values…that they privately accept membership in and which influence their attitudes and behaviour”. Clark & Pataki reserve the term “group” for aggregates containing three or more members because dyads (aggregate of 2 persons) differ from larger aggregates in a number of ways. For example, unlike aggregates of three or more people, dyads are destroyed, no longer termed a group, by the loss of one member. Also, certain processes that are common in larger aggregates, such as, mediation of conflicts, coalition formation, majority and minority influence, cannot occur in dyads. From the book “Introduction to Social Psychology” by Graham Vaughan & Michael Hogg (2002) a group is defined as two or more people who share a common definition and evaluation of themselves and behave in accordance with such a definition. Group structure is a pattern of relationships among members that hold the group together and help it achieve assigned goals. Structure can be defined in a variety of ways. These include group size, group roles, group norms, group cohesiveness and status systems. Group size can vary from two people to a very large number of people. Small groups of two to ten are thought to be more effective because each member has ample opportunity to participate and become actively involved in the group. Large groups may waste time by deciding on processes and trying to decide