Source: Image of Soccer Team, Public Domain, http://mrg.bz/l4GTRF
Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about the concept of group cohesiveness and what factors are there to increase or decrease group cohesion.
When we have group cohesiveness, we are talking about when members are bonding or linking them to one another. And this is due to some unifying forces that help them stick together. And the stronger these forces are, the more likely they will stick together over time.
And there are a couple of different factors that promote group cohesiveness. And one of those is a sense of belonging. So here the group members are feeling safe and comfortable and valued by other members of the group.
So I think we all know that sense of belonging. And we probably had it somewhere maybe within our families or friends or work situations, possibly.
There's also the teamwork factor. And this is where they are working together in a collaborative effort to really achieve those shared goals that they have. And the factor of attraction fits in because we have a perception that, one, group members are there for potential sources of reward or gain.
So for example, this soccer team here in the picture, they all have a sense of belonging with each other. And they're safe and feel comfortable and all feel valued by one another. And they're utilizing their teamwork factors in that their shared goal is to win the game.
And the attraction piece fits in that they're all together on that team because they all possess certain skills that benefit the team or the group overall. So maybe one person or a few people are really great runners. The other's a great ball handler or a good goalie. So that's how attraction fits in.
The factors that promote group cohesiveness, so the sense of belonging, teamwork, and attraction, are really affected by member's experiences and perceptions of how similar the group members are to each other. So the more alike they are, the stronger we are going to have that sense of belonging, teamwork, and attraction.
And the factors are also affected by entry difficulty. So here we're talking about exclusivity and having that perception that our group is exclusive and we require particular positive traits in order for a person to be a member of our group.
Factors are also affected by group success. So whether or not our group is able to collaborate and promote our goals together is another way in which the factors are affected by. And also when we are faced with competition or threat from another group and whether or not that really makes us more aware of our similarities, or if the competition or threat will possibly polarize our group. So these are all ways in which group cohesion can be affected.
So when we have this group cohesiveness where we have remained together, we are feeling similar, and we have all of the factors of sense of belonging, teamwork, and attraction, and we stay together over time, we have a tendency towards self reinforcement. And this is where we have stronger-held beliefs due to positive gains.
So our group has remained together and we've had a lot of positive experiences and outcomes and gains from one another. All of these lead to self reinforcement where we see the positive outcomes and aspects of the group. And so that makes us feel stronger and more bonded.
So now that we've gone over group cohesion, let's look at our key points here. When we have group cohesion, there is a strong unifying force that keeps members together. And there are various factors that can promote group cohesion. And those include sense of belonging and attraction and teamwork.
And there are certain experiences that may impact factors in creating group cohesion. And those could be whether or not we have entry difficulty, making sure our group is exclusive, making sure our group is successful, and whether or not we can stick together in a competition or a threat.
And if we're able to stick together and work through some of the possible negative things as a group and come out with more positive gains, this leads to a self reinforcement where we have a stronger-held principle and belief within our group.
So here are your key terms. Feel free to pause and look them over more closely. I'm going to go to another slide as well. So if you need to back up, feel free to do so.
Thank you so much for taking the time out to view this tutorial. I really hope that you've learned something. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.