The Group Experience

Webster defines "group" as: "a number of persons or things gathered closely together and forming a recognizable unit." People can be both stimulated and distracted by being in a group. They respond to a wide variety of group norms and pressures. Being in a group causes an individual to behave and think differently from when he is alone (Freedman & Sears, 1981, p. 555). To better understand this we will discuss the main elements involved in group dynamics. These include: "social facilitation," "competition versus cooperation," "factors affecting competition," "problem solving by groups," "extremity shifts," and "groups as mobs."

When people are in the same place at the same time, no matter how non-interactive, research has pointed out that they tend to perform most tasks better then when they are alone (Freedman & Sears, 1981, p. 555). This effect, called "social facilitation,"

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overs and friends, salesperson and buyer, country and country, the outcome sought is one in which all parties believe they not only got a good value, but also managed to beat the other person. "Problem solving by groups," a way people interact on an involved basis, has been shown to be a less efficient way of working than individuals alone (Freedman & Sears, 1981, p. 586). Group members tend to distract, inhibit and generally interfere with one another. However, groups are a means of catching errors and when differing skills are needed to solve a problem, can be very effective. Further, group members tend to motivate each other to work harder, providing that the interaction and feeling among the members is one of cooperation and agreeability. One interesting effect that groups have on individuals' behavior concerns risk taking or "extremity shifts." Studies show that most of the work on group decisions indicate a shift toward riskier choices over what would be the member's individual choices (Freedman & Sears, 1981, p. 589). However, since some cases showed groups to move toward a more conservative direction, the name "extremity" versus "risky" shift is used. Why does this happen? In groups, the more riskier-idea peopl
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Freedman Sears, Johan Huizinga, , freedman sears, freedman sears 1981, sears 1981, Education Digest, Hill Slavin, Hall Foy, February Cooperative, slavin 1988, Morrow Pogrebin, foy 1980, social facilitation, 1988 22, slavin 1988 22, References Freedman, cooperation freedman sears, affecting competition, 1980 183, foy 1980 183, factor effecting, slavin 1989, sears 1981 555,
Approximate Word count = 1963
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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