Research on groups has been a major focus of concern among psychologists and sociologists for many years. The study of groups certainly deserves a central role in these disciplines since much of our behavior occurs in groups and many important social phenomena involve groups. Issues such as leadership, conformity, group decision-making, group task performance, and coalition formation have had a long history of research. However, recently a number of other areas of research have blossomed that provide interesting new perspectives on group processes (e.g., social impact). In addition, topics of research have developed outside the commonly ac­ cepted domain of group dynamics (e.g., self-disclosure) which seem to be concerned with rather basic group processes. Basic Group Processes was designed to bring together in one volume a repre­ sentative sample of the broad range of work currently being done in the area of groups. Some of the chapters provide a review of the literature while others focus more specifically on current programs of research. All, however, provide new insights into basic group processes and a number provide broad integrative schemes. All of the authors were asked to emphasize theoretical issues rather than a detailed presenta­ tion of research. Basic Group Processes suggests that research on groups is a lively enterprise and forging interesting new theoretical and empirical directions.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 1. Social Influence Processes in Groups.- 2. Leadership Theory and Research: A Systems-Process Integration.- Brief History.- Current Research and Theory.- Integrative Systems/Process Model.- 3. Minority Influence.- Two Social Influence Models.- Impact of Behavioral Style.- Why is Minority Consistency Effective?.- Minority Image.- Consistency and Uniformity Pressures.- Conclusion.- 4. Group Discussion and Judgment.- Group Discussion and Individual Judgment.- Normative and Informational Influence.- Mechanism for Informational Influence.- Group Decision Rules.- Summary.- 2. Group Influence on Task Performance and Informational Processing.- 5. Group Influence on Individual Task Performance.- Social Facilitation.- Group Size and Crowding.- Social Loafing.- Integrative Model.- Evaluation of the Cognitive-Motivational Model.- Conclusions.- 6. The Impact of Personal Equity Processes on Performance in a Group Setting.- Personal Equity Theory.- Task Performance: Willingness and Capability.- Social Facilitation: Audience and Coaction Paradigms.- Processing Strategies.- A Comparison Between an Analysis of Personal Equity Processes and Other Theoretical Perspectives.- Conclusion.- 7. Social Context Effects in Persuasion: The Effects of Multiple Sources and Multiple Targets.- Division of Impact.- Multiplication of Impact.- General Discussion.- 3. Exchange Processes in Groups.- 8. Coalition Formation: A Social Psychological Approach.- Classification of Coalition Situations.- Theories of Coalition Formation.- General Evaluation of Theories.- Summary and Conclusions.- 9. The Influence of Communication on Bargaining.- Bargaining.- Communication.- Communication Dilemmas.- Bargaining Research Paradigms.- Communication and Bargaining.- Conclusion.- 10. Procedural Justice, Participation, and the Fair Process Effect in Groups and Organizations.- Participation in Organizational Contexts.- Participation in the Form of Choice.- Participation in the Form of Voice.- Limiting Conditions of the Fair Process Effect.- Conclusion.- 4. Interaction in Groups.- 11. Loneliness, Sex-Role Orientation, and Group Life: A Social Needs Perspective.- Current Conceptions of Loneliness.- Social Provisions of Group Life.- Parallels Between the Provision Dimensions and Masculine and Feminine Social Styles.- Group Phenomena Viewed from a Social Needs Perspective.- Summary, Conclusions, and Future Directions.- 12. The Interpersonal Orientations of Disclosure.- The Self-Disclosure Tradition.- Traditional Role of Communication in Groups.- Relationships: Where the Self Joins the Group.- The Uses of Disclosure.- Orienting Disclosure to Group Processes.- 13. Influences of Past Relationships on Subsequent Ones.- Toman's "Family Constellation" Theory.- A Test of Competing Predictions.- Theoretical Implications.- Speculations and Directions for Future Research.- Conclusions.- Author Index.