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Group Formation
Chapter 4
What Factors Determine When a Group Will Form?

People
Joining with others in a group depends on individuals'
personal qualities, including traits, social motives, and gender.
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Situations

Some situations prompt people to affiliate with one another,
including
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Ambiguous, dangerous situations
Tasks and goals that can only be achieved by collaborating
with others
Relationships
Groups form when individuals find they like one another.
Who Joins Groups & Who Remains Apart?

Personality

Introversion & extraversion: extraverts are drawn
to other people and groups and introverts avoid
them (extraverts tend to be happier individuals)

Relationality: individuals who adopt values,
attitudes, and outlooks that emphasize and
facilitate connections with others seek out group
memberships
Social Motivation

Need for Affiliation – people with high need for
affiliation tend to join more groups and spend more time in
them; however, they often fear rejection

Need for Intimacy – tend to join more groups in order to
find close relationships with others
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Need for Power – need to influence others, need for
control in groups (e.g., organizing and structuring
activities)
Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation
(FIRO)

Theory: Individuals’ need to receive and express inclusion,
control, and affection influences group-seeking
tendencies. The 3 basic needs identified by FIRO-B are:
INCLUSION
CONTROL
forming new
relationships and
associating with
others; determines
the extent of contact
and prominence that
a person seeks.
Include:
• belonging
• involvement
• participation
• recognition
relates to decision
making, influence,
and persuasion
between people;
extent of power
dominance that a
person seeks.
Include:
• power
• authority
• influence
• responsibility
AFFILIATION
relates to emotional
ties and warm
connections between
people; it determines
the extent of
closeness that a
person seeks.
Include:
• personal ties
• consensus
• sensitivity
• support
Fundamental Interpersonal Relations
Orientation (FIRO)
For each of the three interpersonal needs—Inclusion,
Control, and Affection—the FIRO instrument also provides
a measure of how much each need is Expressed or
Wanted by you.
EXPRESSED
 The extent to which you will initiate the behavior.
WANTED
 The extent to which you want or will accept that behavior
from others.
 FIRO-B tool can help you maximize the impact of your
actions, identify options for increasing your job satisfaction
and productivity, and explore alternative ways to achieve
your goals.
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Social Anxiety & Phobia

fear of social situations – a feeling of
apprehension and embarrassment
experienced when anticipating or actually
interacting with other people

persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of a
specific object/situation
avoidance behaviour

Fight vs. Flight and Groups
Social Anxiety & Phobia

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rooted in fear of negative evaluations
becomes conditioned behaviour
Disaffiliate – reduce social contact
Innocuous Sociability – merge into the
group’s background
Attachment

Attachment Style – approach to relationships with other
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Secure – comfortable with interpersonal intimacy
Avoidant – evades intimacy with others
Anxious – people desire intimacy, but are worried about
rejection
Sex differences in joining groups
 Women – more extraverted, caring, warm, empathic,
socially responsible
 Men – seek membership in larger, formal, task-focused
groups
Affiliation

Social comparison - gaining information from
other people’s reactions
Ambiguous,
confusing
circumstances
Psychological
reaction
 Negative
emotions
 Uncertainty
 Need for
information
Affiliation
and social
comparison
with others
Cognitive
Clarity
Group Affiliation : When & Why

Schachter’s studies of Affiliation
 How do people react in an ambiguous, frightening
situation?
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Misery loves company: People affiliate with others
Misery loves miserable company: Schachter found people
prefer to wait with others facing a similar experience.
Directional comparison
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downward social comparison: bolsters sense of competence
upward social comparison: hope and motivation
The self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model: people
affiliate with individuals who do not outperform them in areas
that are very relevant to their self-esteem
Social Support
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Safety in numbers
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-
-
"fight-or-flight"
"tend-and-befriend“
Types of social support:
Approval
Emotional
Informational
Instrumental
Spiritual
Fight vs. Flight and Groups
Collaboration

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Groups form when individuals seek goals that
they cannot attain working alone.
 How difficult is the task?
 How complex is the task?
 How important is the task?
Example: Gangs as a means to achieve goals
Use drugs
Family member belongs
Impress girls
Buy drugs
Nothing to do
Impress friends
Impress neighborhood
My neighborhood
Defend Neighborhood
Make money
Sell drugs
Protection
0
20
40
60
80
100
Group Attraction
Newcomb’s Study of the Acquaintance Process
Principles of Attraction
1.
2.
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Proximity Principle - People tend to like those who are
situated near by.
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Elaboration Principle - Groups often emerge when
groups, as complex system, grow as additional elements
(people) become linked to original members.

Similarity Principle
People like those who are similar to them in some way.
ie. homophily: similarity in attitudes, values, appearance,etc.
Principles of Attraction

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Complementarity Principle
People like others whose qualities complement their
own qualities.
Reciprocity Principle
Liking tends to be mutual
Minimax Principle
Individuals are attracted to groups that offer them
maximum rewards and minimal costs.
Interpersonal Attraction Between Individuals

Social Exchange Theory
Relationships are like economic exchanges,
bargains where maximum outcomes sought with
minimum investment. Satisfaction is determined
by comparison level (CL). Value of other groups
determines comparison level for alternatives (CLalt)