a. A group is a set of people, organizations, or things which are considered together because they have something in common, or a set of people who have the same interests or aims, and who organize themselves to work or act together.
b. Characteristics:
Size: ①small groups are those groups that consist 3 to 25 people; ②large groups describe groups that are larger than 25
Purpose: ①social purposes of small group: socialization, catharsis, therapy and learning; ②task-related purposes: decision-making and problem-solving
Nature: ①Primary: the group into which we are born is called our primary group; ②Secondary: the groups we join later are called secondary groupsInterdependence: the mutual dependence of group members on one another
Common Goal: the driving force that brings people together to form is a common goal
Group Personality: when people come together in a group, they form a collective identity that becomes the group personality, such as, conservative, intelligent and social
Commitment: the desire of group members to work
together to complete their task to the satisfaction of the entire group
Cohesiveness: an extension of commitment, is the
attraction that group members feel for each other and their willingness to
stick together
Group
Conflict: conflict does not always have to be
harmful; conflict
can be productive and can result in better decisions and solutions to problems
Social
Facilitation: the tendency for a person to release
energy that would not be released if the individual were acting alone
Gender
Differences: research
shows that groups consisting of both men and women are more likely to be
dominated by men talking than by women talking
Norms: the expected and shared ways in which
group members behave
c. Behavior:
c. Behavior:
Relevance: members’ comments should pertain to the
topic and goals of the discussion at hand and should deviate only when tension
needs to be released
Relatedness: the goal of relatedness is to make sure
that contributions tie in with what has been said before and what is apt to be
said next
Timeliness: to give more impact to a good idea you
should, introduce it at a favorable time so that it gets the group’s full
attention and consideration
Sufficient
Length: choosing
the best length for a comment requires good judgment; the goal is to make sure
that the comment you contribute is long enough to make your point
Clarity: to avoid misunderstandings, define your
terms and provide examples to ensure a common ground
Informativeness: make
sure that your statement are accurate and objective; this requires having a
good understanding of the topic and doing prior research
Openness
to evaluation: criticism
should not be ignored or avoided; at the same time, members must remember that
evaluation can be constructive only when they focus on the contribution and not
on the person
Provocativeness: comments
should be made not only to bring the group closer to its goal, but also to fuel
thought for further contributions