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121-514: Lewin is often recognized as the "founder of social psychology" and was one of the first to study group dynamics and organizational development . A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Lewin as the 18th-most cited psychologist of the 20th century. During his career, he was affiliated with several U.S. and European universities, including the University of Berlin , Cornell University , MIT , Stanford University , and

242-509: A "master at transposing an everyday problem into a psychological experiment". Lewin, in his beginnings, took a seemingly banal moment between himself and a waiter and turned it into the beginnings of his field research, which Lewin reasoned that the "intention to carry out a specific task builds a psychological tension, which is released when the intended task is completed" in tandem with when Sigmund Freud theorized that "wishes persist until they are satisfied." This happenstance observation started

363-455: A 'racial unconscious' with primitive, aggressive, and antisocial instincts, and William McDougall (psychologist) , who believed in a 'group mind,' which had a distinct existence born from the interaction of individuals. Eventually, the social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1890–1947) coined the term group dynamics to describe the positive and negative forces within groups of people. In 1945, he established The Group Dynamics Research Center at

484-625: A Scottish mother, Alexina Trist nee Middleton. He grew up in Dover experiencing dramatic air raids in the first world war , and attended the local county school . He went to Pembroke College, Cambridge , in 1928, where he read English Literature, graduating with first-class honours. Influenced heavily by his don I. A. Richards he became interested in Psychology , Gestalt psychology , and Psychoanalysis , and went on to read psychology under Frederic Bartlett . At that time (1932/3) Trist has said he

605-400: A balance between these two desires. That is, to be similar to others (those who you share group membership with), but also to be different from others (those who are outside of your group). In the social sciences, group cohesion refers to the processes that keep members of a social group connected. Terms such as attraction, solidarity, and morale are often used to describe group cohesion. It

726-566: A classical humanistic education. In 1909, he entered the University of Freiburg to study medicine, but transferred to the University of Munich to study biology. At the University of Munich, he became involved with the socialist and women's rights movements around this time. In April 1910, Lewin transferred to the Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Berlin , where he was still a medical student. By

847-403: A collection of people watching a movie in a theater both constitute a group. Past research has identified four basic types of groups which include, but are not limited to: primary groups, social groups, collective groups, and categories. It is important to define these four types of groups because they are intuitive to most lay people. For example, in an experiment, participants were asked to sort

968-409: A commitment to use his resources as a social scientist to do something about them. In the early 1940s, he drew a triangle to represent the interdependence of research, training, and action in producing social change." This diagramming of an academic's interests and actions within this triangulation yields an interesting part of accessing Lewin and his contributions. Rather than noting social justice as

1089-425: A concept dedicated to the advancement of knowledge regarding the nature of groups, their laws, establishment, development, and interactions with other groups, individuals and institutions. During the early years of research on group processes, many psychologists rejected the reality of group phenomena. Critics shared the opinion that groups did not exist as scientifically valid entities. It had been said by skeptics that

1210-473: A desire to be similar to others, but also a desire to differentiate themselves, ultimately seeking some balance of these two desires (to obtain optimal distinctiveness ). For example, one might imagine a young teenager in the United States who tries to balance these desires, not wanting to be ‘just like everyone else,’ but also wanting to ‘fit in’ and be similar to others. One's collective self may offer

1331-501: A dissertation proposal asking Stumpf to be his supervisor, and Stumpf assented. Even though Lewin worked under Stumpf to complete his dissertation, their relationship did not involve much communication. Lewin studied associations, will, and intention for his dissertation, but he did not discuss it with Stumpf until his final doctoral examination. Lewin was originally involved with schools of behavioral psychology before changing directions in research and undertaking work with psychologists of

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1452-422: A distinct and valued social identity that benefits our self-esteem. Our social identity and group membership also satisfies a need to belong. Of course, individuals belong to multiple groups. Therefore, one's social identity can have several, qualitatively distinct parts (for example, one's ethnic identity, religious identity, and political identity). Optimal distinctiveness theory suggests that individuals have

1573-512: A fifth stage for the dissolution of a group called adjourning . ( Adjourning may also be referred to as mourning , i.e. mourning the adjournment of the group). This model refers to the overall pattern of the group, but of course individuals within a group work in different ways. If distrust persists, a group may never even get to the norming stage. M. Scott Peck developed stages for larger-scale groups (i.e., communities) which are similar to Tuckman's stages of group development. Peck describes

1694-548: A flash mob, an audience at a movie, and a crowd watching a building burn. Categories are characterized by a collection of individuals who are similar in some way. Categories become groups when their similarities have social implications. For example, when people treat others differently because of certain aspects of their appearance or heritage, for example, this creates groups of different races. For this reason, categories can appear to be higher in entitativity and essentialism than primary, social, and collective groups. Entitativity

1815-425: A framework for looking at the factors ("forces") that influence a situation, originally social situations. It looks at forces that are either driving movement toward a goal (helping forces) or blocking movement toward a goal (hindering forces). Key to this approach was Lewin's interest in gestaltism , understanding the totality and assessing a situation as a whole and not focusing only on individual aspects. Further,

1936-506: A fundamental aspect of group structure as they provide direction and motivation, and organize the social interactions of members. Norms are said to be emergent, as they develop gradually throughout interactions between group members. While many norms are widespread throughout society, groups may develop their own norms that members must learn when they join the group. There are various types of norms, including: prescriptive, proscriptive, descriptive, and injunctive. Intermember Relations are

2057-609: A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in February 1946, and a new Tavistock Clinic became part of the newly formed National Health Service . Many of the group went into formal Psychoanalytic training . Trist was much influenced by Melanie Klein , who visited the Tavistock, as well as by his colleagues John Bowlby , Donald Winnicott , Wilfred Bion and Jock Sutherland . Though close to Wilfred Bion during

2178-399: A group could not exist. As an extension of Lewin's work, Festinger (along with Stanley Schachter and Kurt Back) described cohesion as, “the total field of forces which act on members to remain in the group” (Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950, p. 37). Later, this definition was modified to describe the forces acting on individual members to remain in the group, termed attraction to

2299-399: A group is determined by a number of different factors, including an individual's personal traits; gender; social motives such as need for affiliation, need for power, and need for intimacy; attachment style; and prior group experiences. Groups can offer some advantages to its members that would not be possible if an individual decided to remain alone, including gaining social support in

2420-427: A group may be attractive to us in terms of costs and benefits, but that attractiveness alone does not determine whether or not we will join the group. Instead, our decision is based on two factors: our comparison level, and our comparison level for alternatives. In John Thibaut and Harold Kelley's social exchange theory , comparison level is the standard by which an individual will evaluate the desirability of becoming

2541-474: A group must prove themselves to the full members to become accepted, full members have undergone socialization and are already accepted within the group. They have more privilege than newcomers but more responsibility to help the group achieve its goals. Marginal members were once full members but lost membership because they failed to live up to the group's expectations. They can rejoin the group if they go through re-socialization. Therefore, full members' behavior

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2662-428: A high level of role differentiation would be categorized as having many different roles that are specialized and narrowly defined. A key role in a group is the leader, but there are other important roles as well, including task roles, relationship roles, and individual roles. Functional (task) roles are generally defined in relation to the tasks the team is expected to perform. Individuals engaged in task roles focus on

2783-641: A key figure in Behaviourism in Boston. After witnessing some disturbing experiences during the Depression , he became politically interested for the first time, and read Karl Marx . Trist returned to the UK in 1935 with his first wife Virginia Traylor (b. 11 Sep 1909, m. 6 Jul 1935 Manhattan, New York) (a granddaughter of John Henry Traylor ), her mother and sister. Trist met Oscar Adolph Oeser , who headed

2904-471: A leader. Members are given choices and collectively decide the division of labor. Praise and criticism in such an environment are objective , fact minded and given by a group member without necessarily having participated extensively in the actual work. Laissez-faire environments give freedom to the group for policy determination without any participation from the leader. The leader remains uninvolved in work decisions unless asked, does not participate in

3025-669: A level of psychological distinctiveness is necessary for group formation. Through interaction, individuals begin to develop group norms, roles, and attitudes which define the group, and are internalized to influence behaviour. Emergent groups arise from a relatively spontaneous process of group formation. For example, in response to a natural disaster, an emergent response group may form. These groups are characterized as having no preexisting structure (e.g. group membership, allocated roles) or prior experience working together. Yet, these groups still express high levels of interdependence and coordinate knowledge, resources, and tasks. Joining

3146-449: A member of the group and forming new social relationships within the group. This comparison level is influenced by previous relationships and membership in different groups. Those individuals who have experienced positive rewards with few costs in previous relationships and groups will have a higher comparison level than a person who experienced more negative costs and fewer rewards in previous relationships and group memberships. According to

3267-532: A model and that it took form after his death in 1947. While working at MIT in 1946, Lewin received a phone call from the director of the Connecticut State Inter Racial Commission, which requested his help in finding an effective way to combat religious and racial prejudices. He set up a workshop to conduct a "change" experiment, which laid the foundations for what is now known as sensitivity training . In 1947, this led to

3388-634: A number of groups into categories based on their own criteria. Examples of groups to be sorted were a sports team, a family, people at a bus stop and women. It was found that participants consistently sorted groups into four categories: intimacy groups, task groups, loose associations, and social categories. These categories are conceptually similar to the four basic types to be discussed. Therefore, it seems that individuals intuitively define aggregations of individuals in this way. Primary groups are characterized by relatively small, long-lasting groups of individuals who share personally meaningful relationships. Since

3509-447: A perception of unfriendliness with strangers. Yet once a person has gained their trust, they can be loyal friends for life. The Peach v Coconut analogy was later popularised by Fons Trompenaars , who said it "explains all sorts of animosities that bedevil cross-cultural friendships, business dealings and diplomacy." In 1917, Lewin married Maria Landsberg. In 1919, the couple had a daughter Esther Agnes, and in 1922, their son Fritz Reuven

3630-438: A professor at MIT , first coined the term action research in about 1944, and it appears in his 1946 paper "Action Research and Minority Problems". In that paper, he described action research as "a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action" that uses "a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about

3751-467: A rallying point for the team. However, some values (such as conformity ) can also be dysfunction and lead to poor decisions by the team. Communication patterns describe the flow of information within the group and they are typically described as either centralized or decentralized. With a centralized pattern, communications tend to flow from one source to all group members. Centralized communications allow standardization of information, but may restrict

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3872-461: A sense of collective conscious and an emotion-based sense of community. Beliefs within the ingroup are based on how individuals in the group see their other members. Individuals tend to upgrade likeable in-group members and deviate from unlikeable group members, making them a separate outgroup. This is called the black sheep effect. The way a person judges socially desirable and socially undesirable individuals depends upon whether they are part of

3993-707: A teaching position as the chair of psychology and creating a research institute at Hebrew University in Jerusalem . Lewin often associated with the early Frankfurt School , originated by an influential group of largely Jewish Marxists at the Institute for Social Research in Germany. But when Adolf Hitler came to power in Nazi Germany in 1933, the Institute members disbanded, and moved to England and then to

4114-480: A technique for making people more aware of the effect they have on others, which some claim as the beginning of political correctness . This would later influence the direction of much of work at the Tavistock Institute , in the direction of management and, some would say , manipulation, rather than fundamental research into human behaviour and the psyche. It was a partnership between Trist's group at

4235-442: A way of resolving a dissonance of his own passage to America and how he left his own back in present-day Poland . Prominent psychologists mentored by Lewin included Leon Festinger (1919–1989), who became known for his cognitive dissonance theory (1956), environmental psychologist Roger Barker , Bluma Zeigarnik , and Morton Deutsch , the founder of modern conflict resolution theory and practice. Force-field analysis provides

4356-457: A whole in an increasingly less positive manner after they became full members. However, there is no evidence that this affects the way they are judged by other members. Nevertheless, depending on the self-esteem of an individual, members of the in-group may experience different private beliefs about the group's activities but will publicly express the opposite—that they actually share these beliefs. One member may not personally agree with something

4477-425: Is a function (f) of personal characteristics (P), and environmental characteristics (E). Scholars in the 1930s reveled in fear that, by devoting themselves to applied research, they would distract the discipline from basic research on scholarly problems and create a false binary on whether research was developed for the perpetuation of their respective discipline or for practical application. Despite this debate within

4598-408: Is a part of social exchange theory that states that people will join and remain in a group that can provide them with the maximum amount of valuable rewards while at the same time, ensuring the minimum amount of costs to themselves. However, this does not necessarily mean that a person will join a group simply because the reward/cost ratio seems attractive. According to Howard Kelley and John Thibaut,

4719-429: Is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group ( intra group dynamics), or between social groups ( inter group dynamics ). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-making behaviour, tracking the spread of diseases in society, creating effective therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and technologies. These applications of

4840-703: Is characterized by a formally organized group of individuals who are not as emotionally involved with each other as those in a primary group. These groups tend to be larger, with shorter memberships compared to primary groups. Further, social groups do not have as stable memberships, since members are able to leave their social group and join new groups. The goals of social groups are often task-oriented as opposed to relationship-oriented. Examples of social groups include coworkers, clubs, and sports teams. Collectives are characterized by large groups of individuals who display similar actions or outlooks. They are loosely formed, spontaneous, and brief. Examples of collectives include

4961-436: Is defined by Campbell as the extent to which collections of individuals are perceived to be a group. The degree of entitativity that a group has is influenced by whether a collection of individuals experience the same fate, display similarities, and are close in proximity. If individuals believe that a group is high in entitativity, then they are likely to believe that the group has unchanging characteristics that are essential to

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5082-502: Is important that other group members perceive an individual's status to be warranted and deserved, as otherwise they may not have authority within the group. Status differentials may affect the relative amount of pay among group members and they may also affect the group's tolerance to violation of group norms (e.g. people with higher status may be given more freedom to violate group norms). Forsyth suggests that while many daily tasks undertaken by individuals could be performed in isolation,

5203-433: Is often their first experience with a group. For example, individuals are born into a primary group, their family, which creates a foundation for them to base their future relationships. Individuals can be born into a primary group; however, primary groups can also form when individuals interact for extended periods of time in meaningful ways. Examples of primary groups include family, close friends, and gangs. A social group

5324-776: Is often useful in the context of work settings, team sports, and political activism. However, the influence of groups on the individual can also generate extremely negative behaviours, evident in Nazi Germany, the My Lai Massacre , and in the Abu Ghraib prison (also see Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse ). A group's structure is the internal framework that defines members' relations to one another over time. Frequently studied elements of group structure include roles, norms, values, communication patterns, and status differentials. Group structure has also been defined as

5445-406: Is paramount to define the ingroup's image. Bogart and Ryan surveyed the development of new members' stereotypes about in-groups and out-groups during socialization. Results showed that the new members judged themselves as consistent with the stereotypes of their in-groups, even when they had recently committed to join those groups or existed as marginal members. They also tended to judge the group as

5566-415: Is similar to the study of culture . For example, there are group dynamics in the U.S. South that sustain a culture of honor , which is associated with norms of toughness, honour-related violence, and self-defence. Group formation starts with a psychological bond between individuals. The social cohesion approach suggests that group formation comes out of bonds of interpersonal attraction . In contrast,

5687-422: Is thought to be one of the most important characteristics of a group, and has been linked to group performance, intergroup conflict and therapeutic change. Group cohesion, as a scientifically studied property of groups, is commonly associated with Kurt Lewin and his student, Leon Festinger . Lewin defined group cohesion as the willingness of individuals to stick together, and believed that without cohesiveness

5808-471: Is top dog here?), and affection (do I belong here?). Schutz sees groups resolving each issue in turn in order to be able to progress to the next stage. Conversely, a struggling group can devolve to an earlier stage, if unable to resolve outstanding issues at its present stage. Schutz referred to these group dynamics as "the interpersonal underworld," group processes which are largely unseen and un-acknowledged, as opposed to "content" issues, which are nominally

5929-460: The social identity approach suggests that a group starts when a collection of individuals perceive that they share some social category (‘smokers’, ‘nurses,’ ‘students,’ ‘hockey players’), and that interpersonal attraction only secondarily enhances the connection between individuals. Additionally, from the social identity approach, group formation involves both identifying with some individuals and explicitly not identifying with others. So to say,

6050-571: The Gestalt school of psychology , including Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler . He also joined the Psychological Institute of the University of Berlin , where he lectured and gave seminars on both philosophy and psychology. He served as a professor at the University of Berlin from 1926 to 1932, during which time he conducted experiments about tension states, needs, motivation, and learning. In 1933, Lewin had tried to negotiate

6171-660: The Iowa Child Welfare Research Station at the University of Iowa , and as director of the Center for Group Dynamics at MIT . Following World War II , Lewin was involved in the psychological rehabilitation of former occupants of displaced persons camps with Dr. Jacob Fine at Harvard Medical School . When Trist and A T M Wilson wrote to Lewin proposing a journal in partnership with their newly founded Tavistock Institute and his group at MIT, Lewin agreed. The Tavistock journal, Human Relations ,

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6292-718: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology , the first institute devoted explicitly to the study of group dynamics. Throughout his career, Lewin was focused on how the study of group dynamics could be applied to real-world, social issues. Increasingly, research has applied evolutionary psychology principles to group dynamics. As human's social environments became more complex, they acquired adaptations by way of group dynamics that enhance survival. Examples include mechanisms for dealing with status, reciprocity, identifying cheaters, ostracism, altruism, group decision, leadership, and intergroup relations . Gustave Le Bon

6413-456: The University of Iowa . Lewin was born in 1890 into a Jewish family in Mogilno , County of Mogilno , Province of Posen , Prussia in present-day Poland , a small village with then about 5,000 residents, about 150 of whom were Jewish. Lewin received an orthodox Jewish education at home. He was one of four children born into a middle-class family. His father owned a small general store, and

6534-469: The boundaries of the group. Often, there are distinct subgroups within a more broadly defined group. For example, one could define U.S. residents (‘Americans’) as a group, but could also define a more specific set of U.S. residents (for example, 'Americans in the South'). For each of these groups, there are distinct dynamics that can be discussed. Notably, on this very broad level, the study of group dynamics

6655-410: The nature versus nurture debate. Lewin suggested that neither nature (inborn tendencies) nor nurture (how experiences in life shape individuals) alone can account for individuals' behavior and personalities, but rather that both nature and nurture interact to shape each person. This idea was presented in the form of Lewin's equation for behavior, B = ƒ ( P , E ), which means that behavior (B)

6776-429: The social exchange theory , group membership will be more satisfying to a new prospective member if the group's outcomes, in terms of costs and rewards, are above the individual's comparison level. As well, group membership will be unsatisfying to a new member if the outcomes are below the individual's comparison level. Comparison level only predicts how satisfied a new member will be with the social relationships within

6897-419: The social sciences at the time, Lewin argued that "applied research could be conducted with rigor and that one could test theoretical propositions in applied research." The root of this particular binary seemed to stem from the epistemological norms present within the hard sciences – where the distinction was much more pronounced; Kurt Lewin argued that this was contrary to the nature of the social sciences. With

7018-442: The "comparison level for alternatives can be defined informally as the lowest level of outcomes a member will accept in the light of available alternative opportunities.” Joining and leaving groups is ultimately dependent on the comparison level for alternatives, whereas member satisfaction within a group depends on the comparison level. To summarize, if membership in the group is above the comparison level for alternatives and above

7139-634: The 1990s Trist wrote a three-volume account of the Tavistock, along with Hugh Murray and Fred Emery, The Social Engagement of Social Science . He died on 4 June 1993 in Carmel, California. By his second wife, Beulah J. Varney, he had one son and one daughter. Trist was heavily influenced by Kurt Lewin , whom he met first 1933 in Cambridge, England. Kurt Lewin had moved from studying behaviour to engineering its change, particularly in relation to racial and religious conflicts, inventing sensitivity training ,

7260-546: The Easter semester of 1911, his interests had shifted toward philosophy . By the summer of 1911, the majority of his courses were in psychology . While at the University of Berlin, Lewin took 14 courses with Carl Stumpf (1848–1936). When World War I began, he served in the Imperial German Army , during which he sustained a war wound and returned to the University of Berlin to complete his PhD . Lewin wrote

7381-708: The Graduate School of Business Administration at UCLA . In 1969 he joined Russell L. Ackoff in the Social Systems Science Program (S-cubed) at the Wharton School , the University of Pennsylvania . He taught there until 1978 when he became an emeritus professor. In that same year he joined the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto where he initiated a program in future studies and taught there until 1983. In

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7502-485: The Jewish identity in terms of religious expression and performance, they were still considered Jewish in the eyes of Nazis . This concept of denying one's identity and the promotion of self-loathing as a form of coping with a dominant group's oppression represented the crisis of Lewin's own migration to the United States. Lewin, as his student and colleague Ron Lippitt described, "had a deep sensitivity to social problems and

7623-468: The Pattern of Fascist Propaganda , and said that "It is not an overstatement if we say that Freud, though he was hardly interested in the political phase of the problem, clearly foresaw the rise and nature of fascist mass movements in purely psychological categories." Jacob L. Moreno was a psychiatrist, dramatist, philosopher and theoretician who coined the term "group psychotherapy" in the early 1930s and

7744-516: The Peach v Coconut cultural distinction. Peach cultures included India, the U.S., most of Latin America , and Southern Europe . Peaches tend to be soft and friendly on the surface, even with strangers, but have a hard protective inner core. Coconut cultures include China, Russia and most of Europe except the south. Folk from coconut cultures have a soft inner core, but a tough exterior than can lead to

7865-497: The Tavistock, and Lewin's at MIT that launched the Journal ' Human Relations ' just before Lewin's death in 1947. It was the wartime experiences of Trist and his various associates that created what became known as 'the Tavistock group', which formed a planning committee to meet and plan the future of the Tavistock after the war. The Tavistock Institute was formed, with Trist as deputy chairman, and Tommy Wilson as chairman, with

7986-510: The United States. The same year, he met with Eric Trist , of the London Tavistock Clinic . Trist was impressed with his theories and went on to use them in his studies on soldiers during World War II . In August 1933, Lewin immigrated to the U.S., where, in 1940, became a naturalized citizen . A few years after relocating to the U.S., Lewin began asking people to pronounce his name as "Lou-in" rather than "Le-veen" because

8107-535: The ability of a group to accomplish the work it was nominally engaged in. Bion's experiences are reported in his published books, especially Experiences in Groups. The Tavistock Institute has further developed and applied the theory and practices developed by Bion. Bruce Tuckman (1965) proposed the four-stage model called Tuckman's Stages for a group. Tuckman's model states that the ideal group decision-making process should occur in four stages: Tuckman later added

8228-429: The actions of groups were nothing more than those of its members considered separately. Lewin applied his interactionism formula, B = ƒ ( P , E ), to explain group phenomena, where a member's personal characteristics ( P ) interact with the environmental factors of the group, ( E ) its members, and the situation to elicit behaviour ( B ). Given his background in Gestalt psychology , Lewin justified group existence using

8349-513: The agenda of group meetings. Wilfred Bion (1961) studied group dynamics from a psychoanalytic perspective, and stated that he was much influenced by Wilfred Trotter for whom he worked at University College Hospital London, as did another key figure in the Psychoanalytic movement, Ernest Jones . He discovered several mass group processes which involved the group as a whole adopting an orientation which, in his opinion, interfered with

8470-410: The beginning or the end, it was ingrained in every single academic action that Lewin took. It was this particular world view and paradigm that furthered his research and determined precisely how he was going to utilize the findings from his field research. Furthermore, it all reflected upon Lewin the man and his way of coping with the events of his time period. This devotion to action research was possibly

8591-436: The beginnings of what ended up developing into "groupthink". Lewin started to become quite interested in how ideas were created and then perpetuated by the mentality of a group. Not included in this chapter is how important this became in looking at group dynamics across disciplines – including studying John F Kennedy and the way he tried to interact with his advisors in order to prevent groupthink from occurring. Lewin conceived

8712-447: The chance that groups will be successful. These include: Intragroup dynamics (also referred to as ingroup-, within-group, or commonly just ‘group dynamics’) are the underlying processes that give rise to a set of norms, roles, relations, and common goals that characterize a particular social group . Examples of groups include religious, political, military, and environmental groups, sports teams, work groups, and therapy groups. Amongst

8833-607: The communication discipline. Lewin and his associated researchers shifted from the pre-existing trend of individualist psychology and then expanded their work to incorporate a macro lens where they focused on the "social psychology of small group communication" (Rogers 1994). Lewin is associated with "founding research and training in group dynamics and for establishing the participative management style in organizations". He carved out this niche for himself from his various experiments. In his Berlin research, Lewin utilized "group discussions to advance his theory in research." In doing so, there

8954-427: The comparison level for alternatives but above the comparison level, membership is satisfying but an individual will be unlikely to join. If group membership is below both the comparison and alternative comparison levels, membership will be dissatisfying and the individual will be less likely to join the group. Groups can vary drastically from one another. For example, three best friends who interact every day as well as

9075-405: The comparison level, the membership within the group will be satisfying and an individual will be more likely to join the group. If membership in the group is above the comparison level for alternatives but below the comparison level, membership will be not be satisfactory; however, the individual will likely join the group since no other desirable options are available. When group membership is below

9196-406: The connections among the members of a group, or the social network within a group. Group members are linked to one another at varying levels. Examining the intermember relations of a group can highlight a group's density (how many members are linked to one another), or the degree centrality of members (number of ties between members). Analysing the intermember relations aspect of a group can highlight

9317-443: The degree centrality of each member in the group, which can lead to a better understanding of the roles of certain group (e.g. an individual who is a 'go-between' in a group will have closer ties to numerous group members which can aid in communication, etc.). Values are goals or ideas that serve as guiding principles for the group. Like norms, values may be communicated either explicitly or on an ad hoc basis. Values can serve as

9438-460: The demonstration of the "existence of psychic tensions", fundamental to Lewin's field theory . While applied research helped develop Lewin into a practical theorist, what further defined him as an academic and a forerunner was his action research , a term he invented himself. Lewin was increasingly interested in the concepts of Jewish migration and identity. He was confused by the concept of how while an individual distanced themselves from performing

9559-452: The dictum "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". He theorized that when a group is established it becomes a unified system with supervening qualities that cannot be understood by evaluating members individually. This notion – that a group is composed of more than the sum of its individual members – quickly gained support from sociologists and psychologists who understood the significance of this emerging field. Many pioneers noted that

9680-444: The division of labor, and very infrequently gives praise. An early model of change developed by Lewin described change as a three-stage process. The first stage he called "unfreezing". It involved overcoming inertia and dismantling the existing "mind set". It must be part of surviving. Defense mechanisms have to be bypassed. In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of confusion and transition. We are aware that

9801-554: The establishment of the National Training Laboratories , at Bethel, Maine . Carl Rogers believed that sensitivity training is "perhaps the most significant social invention of this century." Lewin's equation , B = ƒ ( P , E ), s psychological equation of behavior developed by Lewin, states that behavior is a function of the person in their environment . The equation is the psychologist's most well known formula in social psychology, of which Lewin

9922-504: The family lived in an apartment above the store. His father, Leopold, operated a farm jointly with his brother Max; however, the farm was legally owned by a Christian because Jews were not permitted to own farms at the time. In 1905, Lewin moved with his family to Berlin , so Lewin and his brothers could receive a better education. From 1905 to 1908, Lewin studied at the Kaiserin Augusta Gymnasium , where he received

10043-458: The field are studied in psychology , sociology , anthropology , political science , epidemiology , education , social work , leadership studies , business and managerial studies, as well as communication studies . The history of group dynamics (or group processes) has a consistent, underlying premise: "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." A social group is an entity that has qualities which cannot be understood just by studying

10164-408: The forms of emotional support, instrumental support, and informational support. It also offers friendship, potential new interests, learning new skills, and enhancing self esteem. However, joining a group may also cost an individual time, effort, and personal resources as they may conform to social pressures and strive to reap the benefits that may be offered by the group. The Minimax Principle

10285-482: The founder of experimental psychology, had a particular interest in the psychology of communities, which he believed possessed phenomena (human language, customs, and religion) that could not be described through a study of the individual. On the sociological side, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who was influenced by Wundt, also recognized collective phenomena, such as public knowledge. Other key theorists include Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931) who believed that crowds possessed

10406-468: The free flow of information. Decentralized communications make it easy to share information directly between group members. When decentralized, communications tend to flow more freely, but the delivery of information may not be as fast or accurate as with centralized communications. Another potential downside of decentralized communications is the sheer volume of information that can be generated, particularly with electronic media. Status differentials are

10527-702: The goals of the group and on enabling the work that members do; examples of task roles include coordinator, recorder, critic, or technician. A group member engaged in a relationship role (or socioemotional role) is focused on maintaining the interpersonal and emotional needs of the groups' members; examples of relationship role include encourager, harmonizer, or compromiser. Norms are the informal rules that groups adopt to regulate members' behaviour. Norms refer to what should be done and represent value judgments about appropriate behaviour in social situations. Although they are infrequently written down or even discussed, norms have powerful influence on group behaviour. They are

10648-511: The group . Since then, several models for understanding the concept of group cohesion have been developed, including Albert Carron's hierarchical model and several bi-dimensional models (vertical v. horizontal cohesion, task v. social cohesion, belongingness and morale, and personal v. social attraction). Before Lewin and Festinger, there were, of course, descriptions of a very similar group property. For example, Emile Durkheim described two forms of solidarity (mechanical and organic), which created

10769-455: The group does, but to avoid the black sheep effect, they will publicly agree with the group and keep the private beliefs to themselves. If the person is privately self-aware , he or she is more likely to comply with the group even if they possibly have their own beliefs about the situation. In situations of hazing within fraternities and sororities on college campuses, pledges may encounter this type of situation and may outwardly comply with

10890-470: The group, known as essentialism. Examples of categories are New Yorkers, gamblers, and women. The social group is a critical source of information about individual identity. We naturally make comparisons between our own group and other groups, but we do not necessarily make objective comparisons. Instead, we make evaluations that are self-enhancing, emphasizing the positive qualities of our own group (see ingroup bias ). In this way, these comparisons give us

11011-425: The group. To determine whether people will actually join or leave a group, the value of other, alternative groups needs to be taken into account. This is called the comparison level for alternatives. This comparison level for alternatives is the standard by which an individual will evaluate the quality of the group in comparison to other groups the individual has the opportunity to join. Thiabaut and Kelley stated that

11132-402: The help of scholars, including Paul Lazarsfeld , there was a method through which money could be acquired for research in a sustainable manner. Lewin has encouraged researchers to develop theories that can be used to address important social problems. To demonstrate his dedication to applied research and to further prove that there was value in testing his theoretical propositions, Lewin became

11253-494: The individuals that make up the group. In 1924, Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer proposed "There are entities where the behaviour of the whole cannot be derived from its individual elements nor from the way these elements fit together; rather the opposite is true: the properties of any of the parts are determined by the intrinsic structural laws of the whole". As a field of study, group dynamics has roots in both psychology and sociology. Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), credited as

11374-487: The ingroup or outgroup. This phenomenon has been later accounted for by subjective group dynamics theory. According to this theory, people derogate socially undesirable (deviant) ingroup members relative to outgroup members, because they give a bad image of the ingroup and jeopardize people's social identity. In more recent studies, Marques and colleagues have shown that this occurs more strongly with regard to ingroup full members than other members. Whereas new members of

11495-736: The last two years of the war, Trist was chief psychologist at the Headquarters of the Civil Resettlement Units (CRUs) for repatriated prisoners of war, working to schemes devised by Tommy Wilson and Wilfred Bion. He described this as "probably the most exciting single experience of my professional life". Following the death of his first wife and marriage to Beulah J. Varney (b. 1st quarter 1925, m. 2nd quarter 1959, Middlesex , England), in July 1966 Trist moved to America as Professor of Organizational Behavior and Social Ecology in

11616-502: The leader determines policy with techniques and steps for work tasks dictated by the leader in the division of labor . The leader is not necessarily hostile but is aloof from participation in work and commonly offers personal praise and criticism for the work done. Democratic climates are characterized where policy is determined through collective processes with decisions assisted by the leader. Before accomplishing tasks, perspectives are gained from group discussion and technical advice from

11737-467: The majority of group phenomena could be explained according to Lewin's equation and insight and opposing views were hushed. The study of group dynamics remains relevant in today's society where a vast number of professions (e.g., business and industry, clinical/counseling psychology, sports and recreation) rely on its mechanisms to thrive. The most notable of Lewin's contributions was his development of group communication and group dynamics as major facets of

11858-404: The members of a group, there is a state of interdependence, through which the behaviours, attitudes, opinions, and experiences of each member are collectively influenced by the other group members. In many fields of research, there is an interest in understanding how group dynamics influence individual behaviour, attitudes, and opinions. The dynamics of a particular group depend on how one defines

11979-409: The members of these groups often interact face-to-face, they know each other very well and are unified. Individuals that are a part of primary groups consider the group to be an important part of their lives. Consequently, members strongly identify with their group, even without regular meetings. Cooley believed that primary groups were essential for integrating individuals into their society since this

12100-405: The mispronunciation of his name by Americans had led to many missed phone calls. However, shortly before his death, he began requesting students and colleagues to use the correct pronunciation ("Le-veen") because that is the one he preferred. Earlier, in 1930, he spent six months as a visiting professor at Stanford University . After his immigration to the U.S., Lewin worked at Cornell University ,

12221-450: The need to control. A community is born when its members reach a stage of "emptiness" or peace . Richard Hackman developed a synthetic, research-based model for designing and managing work groups. Hackman suggested that groups are successful when they satisfy internal and external clients, develop capabilities to perform in the future, and when members find meaning and satisfaction in the group. Hackman proposed five conditions that increase

12342-453: The old ways are being challenged but we do not have a clear picture as to what we are replacing them with yet. The third and final stage he called "freezing". The new mindset is crystallizing and one's comfort level is returning to previous levels. This is often misquoted as "refreezing". Lewin's three-step process is regarded as a foundational model for making change in organizations. There is now evidence, however, that Lewin never developed such

12463-748: The pledges to decide if they approve of the situation and if they will voice their disagreeing opinions about it. Individual behaviour is influenced by the presence of others. For example, studies have found that individuals work harder and faster when others are present (see social facilitation ), and that an individual's performance is reduced when others in the situation create distraction or conflict. Groups also influence individual's decision-making processes. These include decisions related to ingroup bias , persuasion (see Asch conformity experiments ), obedience (see Milgram Experiment ), and groupthink . There are both positive and negative implications of group influence on individual behaviour. This type of influence

12584-460: The preference is to perform with other people. Eric Trist Eric Lansdown Trist (11 September 1909 – 4 June 1993) was an English scientist and leading figure in the field of organizational development (OD). He was one of the founders of the Tavistock Institute for Social Research in London. Trist was born in 1909 in Dover , Kent , England of a Cornish father, Frederick Trist, and

12705-637: The psychology department at the University of St Andrews , Scotland , and went on to study unemployment in Dundee . At the outbreak of the second world war Trist became a clinical psychologist at the Maudsley Hospital , London, treating war casualties from Dunkirk . He recalls how, in 1940, in the London blitz , "some very frightened people came out of their rooms, ran all over the grounds and we had to go and find them." The Maudsley, at Mill Hill,

12826-536: The relative differences in status among group members. When a group is first formed the members may all be on an equal level, but over time certain members may acquire status and authority within the group; this can create what is known as a pecking order within a group. Status can be determined by a variety of factors and characteristics, including specific status characteristics (e.g. task-specific behavioural and personal characteristics, such as experience) or diffuse status characteristics (e.g. age, race, ethnicity). It

12947-513: The result of the action" (this is sometimes referred to as the Lewinian spiral ). Lewin often characterized organizational management styles and cultures in terms of leadership climates defined by (1) authoritarian , (2) democratic and (3) laissez-faire work environments. He is often confused with McGregor with his work environments, but McGregor adapted them directly to leadership-theory. Authoritarian environments are characterized where

13068-456: The stages of a community as: Communities may be distinguished from other types of groups, in Peck's view, by the need for members to eliminate barriers to communication in order to be able to form true community. Examples of common barriers are: expectations and preconceptions; prejudices ; ideology , counterproductive norms , theology and solutions; the need to heal, convert, fix or solve and

13189-481: The tasks they are forced to do regardless of their personal feelings about the Greek institution they are joining. This is done in an effort to avoid becoming an outcast of the group. Outcasts who behave in a way that might jeopardize the group tend to be treated more harshly than the likeable ones in a group, creating a black sheep effect. Full members of a fraternity might treat the incoming new members harshly, causing

13310-456: The totality for an individual (their life space) derives from their perception of their reality, not an objective viewpoint. The approach, developed by Kurt Lewin, is a significant contribution to the fields of social science, psychology, social psychology , organizational development , process management , and change management . His theory was expanded by John R. P. French who related it to organizational and industrial settings. Lewin, then

13431-442: The underlying pattern of roles, norms, and networks of relations among members that define and organize the group. Roles can be defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way. Roles may be assigned formally, but more often are defined through the process of role differentiation. Role differentiation is the degree to which different group members have specialized functions. A group with

13552-539: The war, Trist later wrote that he was glad he did not join Bion at this point, because "he left groups in the 1950s – which flummoxed everybody – and got completely absorbed in psychoanalysis", adding, "that was when the cult of Bion – a wrong cult in my view – became established." Trist and the Tavistock became involved in industrial projects until 1951, and was given the Lewin Award in 1951. The family discussion group

13673-869: Was a French social psychologist whose seminal study, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1896) led to the development of group psychology . The British psychologist William McDougall in his work The Group Mind (1920) researched the dynamics of groups of various sizes and degrees of organization. In Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego , (1922), Sigmund Freud based his preliminary description of group psychology on Le Bon's work, but went on to develop his own, original theory, related to what he had begun to elaborate in Totem and Taboo . Theodor Adorno reprised Freud's essay in 1951 with his Freudian Theory and

13794-539: Was a modern pioneer. When first presented in Lewin's book Principles of Topological Psychology , published in 1936, it contradicted most popular theories in that it gave importance to a person's momentary situation in understanding his or her behavior, rather than relying entirely on the past. In a 1947 article, Lewin coined the term " group dynamics ". He described this notion as the way that groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. This field emerged as

13915-569: Was a teaching hospital, and Trist attended seminars and met people from the Tavistock Clinic , whom he was keen to join. Opposed by his boss, Sir Aubrey Lewis , who wouldn't let him go, he joined the Tavistock group in the army, as a way of getting free, and was replaced by Hans Eysenck . Trist went to Edinburgh and worked on the War Office Selection Boards (WOSBs) , with Jock Sutherland and Wilfred Bion . For

14036-606: Was born. They divorced around 1927, and Maria immigrated to Palestine with the children. In 1929, Lewin married Gertrud Weiss. Their daughter Miriam was born in 1931, and their son Daniel was born in 1933. In 1947, Lewin died of heart failure in Newtonville, Massachusetts , and was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts . His wife died in 1987. Group dynamics Group dynamics

14157-430: Was certainly the complication of not knowing exactly whom to attribute epiphanies to as an idea collectively came into fruition. In addition to group discussions, he became increasingly interested in group membership. He was curious as to how perspectives of an individual in relation to the group were solidified or weakened. He tried to come up with the way identity was constructed from standpoint and perspectives. These were

14278-681: Was formed, and John Bowlby did his world-famous studies on mother-child separation and the establishment of family systems therapy . With cooperation and contributions from Kurt Lewin in the USA, the publication of Human Relations , the Tavistock Journal began, and Trist commented that this gave the Tavistock credibility in the USA, saying, "its articles wouldn't have been accepted by any of the other British psychological journals". In 1949, his organizational research work, studying work crews in at Elsecar Collieries , with Ken Bamforth, resulted in

14399-623: Was founded with two early papers by Lewin entitled "Frontiers in Group Dynamics". Lewin taught for a time at Duke University . Lewin coined the notion of genidentity , which has gained some importance in various theories of space-time and related fields. For instance, he introduced the concept of hodological space or the simplest route achieved through the resolution of different field of forces, oppositions, and tensions according to their goals. Lewin also proposed Herbert Blumer 's interactionist perspective of 1937 as an alternative to

14520-407: Was highly influential at the time. Kurt Lewin (1943, 1948, 1951) is commonly identified as the founder of the movement to study groups scientifically. He coined the term group dynamics to describe the way groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. William Schutz (1958, 1966) looked at interpersonal relations as stage-developmental, inclusion (am I included?), control (who

14641-623: Was very interested in articles by Kurt Lewin . When Kurt Lewin (who was Jewish ) left Germany as Adolf Hitler came to power, he travelled to Palestine via the USA, stopping off in England, where Trist briefly met him and showed him around Cambridge . Trist graduated in Psychology in 1933, with a distinction, and went to Yale University in the USA and again met Lewin, who was at Cornell University and then Iowa . He visited B. F. Skinner ,

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