A study investigated whether the interaction patterns of high consensus groups differed significantly from the patterns of low consensus groups in the final stage of a decision-making task. Eighty-four college students placed into 19 groups were told to select a social problem, investigate it, and develop a solution. At the end of the three-week…

Frustration has been primarily investigated in relation to aggressive behaviors, but may elicit other behaviors depending on the responses available to the individual. To test the effects of task frustration and task success on subsequent group behavior, college women (N=80) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: task success, task…

This research was undertaken with the idea that it may be possible to learn about teachers' work lives through the investigation of teacher behavior and attitudes in an out-of-work setting. Group and individual behavior of teachers who habitually gathered at the same bar on Friday afternoons was observed in order to examine patterns of interaction…

Systems descriptions vary in two essential ways. First, they vary in terms of the kinds of behaviors used in describing the system. Second, they vary in terms of the way the data are handled. The analysis of interaction patterns in dyads, groups, and larger systems has been difficult to describe. In this paper, an attempt is made to present a…

A critical review of the small group literature is undertaken in an attempt to identify those characteristics which distinguish the dyad, the two-person group, from larger groups. Comparisons of dyads to larger groups are made in five categories of major small group variables: influence processes, affiliation processes, role differentiation and…

This paper seeks to integrate some ideas from family systems theory and attachment theory within a theory of public opinion and social movement. Citing the classic "The Authoritarian Personality," the paper states that the first authorities children know, their parents or other caregivers, shape children's attitudes toward all…

This essay explores the group dynamics relating to the events surrounding the Watergate coverup and attempts to identify the factors that predispose of the parties involved to make inappropriate, foolish, and ineffective choices concerning a criminal case in which none of them initially was culpable. The initial Watergate breakin is briefly…

This study examined the effects of cooperative and competitive goal structures on children's evaluations of the learning experience and on children's self-reward. Fourth-graders (n=180) were assigned to learning groups of three children each by a stratified (sex and ability) random sampling procedure. Groups were assigned to either the group…

This study developed a method to assess group process in a collaborative problem-solving situation. Participants were 32 fifth- and sixth-grade students. Students in seven collaborative groups worked on a two-part mathematics problem first individually, then in groups, and finally individually again. Groups engaging in behaviors that facilitated…

Supplementing a national survey of self-help group members, a study examined the functioning of an epilepsy self-help group in order to identify communication patterns establishing mutual aid. An examination of eight tape-recorded sessions was combined with an observer's field notes to develop a profile of the group. Analysis revealed a loosely…

This document proposes the adoption of a rules-based theoretical perspective for the study of family interaction. In the first section, Logical and Empirical Requirements, concepts and basic assumptions pertinent to rules theory are considered. The concepts of coordination and determinacy, as used in a rules framework, are explained, and logical…

This literature review examines Kurt Lewin's influence in leadership psychology. Characteristics of field theory are described in detail and utilized in analyzing leadership research, including the trait approach, leader behavior studies, contingency theory, path-goal theory, and leader decision theory. Important trends in leadership research are…

Personal dispositional variables conflicting with social pressure and the resulting behavior, which follows a cusp catastrophe, were investigated. Female undergraduates (N=200) completed a set of attitude questionnaires using a Crutchfield console. Results indicate that: (1) when social pressure is low, behavior is a smooth, monotonic function of…

To assess whether communication behaviors differ between high and low consensus groups, a study considered the comparative interaction of the first meetings of high and low consensus groups, the first and final meetings of high consensus groups, and the first and final meetings of low consensus groups. Subjects, 84 students in a small group…

Shared group consciousness among individuals of ascriptively deprived social categories acts to mobilize strongly identified group members, suggesting that old age identifiers among elderly Americans should also participate in politics at higher rates than those found for non-identified older people. Survey data from both the 1972 and 1976…