Stewart L. Tubbs

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3C H A P T E RC H A P T E R

Relevant Background Factors

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Relevant Background Factors

• Glossary

• Case Study

• Explaining Why We Do What We Do

• Personality

• Gender

• Age

• Health

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Relevant Background Factors (continued)

• Attitudes

• Values

• The Systems Approach

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Glossary

• Affection—refers to the friendship and closeness between people.

• Attitudes—a mental state that exerts influence over an individual’s behaviors. Attitudes have three components: (1) a cognitive component, which refers to a concept; (2) an affective component, which is emotion; and (3) a behavioral component, which is the readiness to act.

• Consistency Theories—based on the assumption that human beings have a strong psychological need for consistency. This is often referred to as a need to maintain cognitive balance.

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Glossary

• Control– Refers to our need to influence, lead, and develop power

over others or to be influenced, be led, or have others exert power over us.

• Inclusion– Our need for belonging, feeling a part of, and being

together with others.

• Values– Values are fewer in number than attitudes and serve as

important predictors of behavior. They appear to be more stable and long-lasting than attitudes.

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Case Study

Adventures in Kenya1. What issues and/or problems can you identify in this

case?

2. How does this case illustrate the systems model for analyzing group interaction?

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Explaining Why We Do What We Do

• Diversity: Groups in Conflict– All behavior occurs in some context.– Hamden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000) have

identified six dimensions that distinguish people.

1. Universalism-particularism2. Individualism-communitarianism3. Specificity-diffusion4. Achieved status-ascribed status5. Inner direction-outer direction6. Sequential time-synchronous time

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Explaining Why We Do What We Do

• Diversity: Groups in Conflict (continued)– Believing in specific ways is usually seen as an

attempt by the individual to meet certain needs.– Probably one of the best-known models for

explaining people’s needs is Maslow’s (1970) hierarchy of needs.

• Physiological needs• Security needs• Belongingness needs• Esteem needs• Self-actualization needs

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Explaining Why We Do What We Do

• Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy

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Personality

• FIRO-B– Schutz (1958, 1967, 1971) hypothesized that

most people share three needs that groups help fulfill.

• Inclusion

• Control

• Affection

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Personality

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)– The theory is that we all possess personality

traits in pairs of opposite characteristics.• Extroversion (E) versus Introversion (I)

• Sensing (S) versus Intuition (N)

• Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F)

• Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)

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Personality

• Although personality is one of the most important background factors in small group communication, other factors are also involved.– Organismic factors or variables are those that

are part of the organism.

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Gender

• Communication between the genders is both the most interesting and sometimes the most challenging of all types of communication.– Deborah Tannen’s (1995) excellent research has

demonstrated that men and women talk differently in group situations.

– Loden (1990) found that women approach teamwork and participatory management differently than do men.

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Age

• Communication patterns differ from childhood through adolescence to adulthood and old age.– Zenger and Lawrence (1989) found that age

similarity of group members had a positive effect on the communication of information within project groups.

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Age

• Communication patterns . . . (continued)– Fullerton, Kerch, and Dodge (1996) found that

age was a good predictor of a person’s ethics.• As age increased, so did one’s ethical standards.

– Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) found that “neoteny,” or perpetual enthusiasm for learning and for life, creates what they call “resonance.”

• Chronological age is probably much less important than psychological age when it comes to effectively working with others.

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Health

• Deficiencies in both physical and mental health of members seem to impede group performance.

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Health—Practical Tips

Hinsberg (1996) offers the following 10 practical tips for managing stress.

1. Exercise. 2. Share it. 3. Know when to relent. 4. Care for yourself. 5. List and delete. 6. Always right? Wrong. 7. Tears for fears. 8. Set a serene scene. 9. Meditate.10. Time out.

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Attitudes

• As each of us develops through childhood and adolescence, a myriad of experiences shapes our view of the world.– These experiences are called developmental

factors.– According to Triandis (1971), attitudes have

three components: (1) a cognitive component; (2) an affective component; and (3) a behavioral component.

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Attitudes

• Some of the most intuitive yet provocative theories concerning attitudes are the so-called cognitive consistency theories.– These theories are based on the assumption that

human beings have a strong psychological need for consistency.

• Heider (1958) refers to this as a need to maintain balance.

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Attitudes

• Some of the most intuitive . . . – These theories . . . (continued)

• A related consistency theory is called cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957).

– Consonance is the same as Heider’s concept of balance, and dissonance is equivalent to imbalance in that it serves to motivate a change back to consonance.

– According to Festinger and Aronson (1968), you may reduce dissonance in five ways: (1) devalue the importance of the issue; (2) derogate the disagreeing person; (3) attempt to change his or her attitude; (4) seek additional social support for your view; and (5) change your attitude.

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Attitudes

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Attitudes

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Values

• Rokeach (1968, 1971, 1973) has argued that people’s values are also important as a predictor of behavior.– Values are seen as more fundamental than

attitudes and are more stable and long lasting.

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The Systems Approach— Practical Tips

Tropman (1996) identifies several value differences that can influence group discussions.

– Multipurpose versus unipurpose

– Pragmatism versus excellence

– Status versus class

– Personal versus organizational purpose

– Empirical versus qualitative decision-making bases

– Disposable labor versus intimate concern

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The Systems Approach

• Small group interactions are the result of influences that can be labeled inputs, throughputs, and outputs.

• Group norms, leadership style, and communication patterns all tend to influence the satisfaction level of group members.

• The three organismic factors discussed in this chapter were gender, age, and health.