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Lesson 9
Group
For the purpose of our testing we must understand what is meant by a group. As we have already
said that Man is an organism in a field of forces. Whenever, therefore, we are studying the behaviour of
a man, we are really studying his behaviour as influenced by his preception of the world around him.
The effect of a man’s group membership, his experience with other men, of his past and present
interpersonal relationship reach into each of his activities. This approach emphasises the need to study
not the static pattern of an individual but to analyse and interpret the dynamics of inter relationship, to
consider not merely man’s conscious appreciation of a situation, but also his total adjustment to it; man
as a member of a group interacting continuously with the group in which he finds himself, influencing
them and being influenced by them. That is why it is necessary to understand what is meant by a group.
There are various definitions of a group. But Bates, in 1950 put it very simply and aptly as “A
collection of individuals become a group as the members accept a common task and become
interdependent to promote its accomplishment”.
For the purpose of group testing our group should reveal as the following characteristics :

a b c d e

It should be a It should accept a They should be The members The group should
collection of common task; the aim interdependent should interact, be of small size.
individuals in of the group as their in their activities primarily through
own in which the
close proximity. problems are shared as a result of (b) oral communication
by individual and above. directly so that each
each individual is individual is aware
concerned not only of others.
for himself but for
others.

It will be relevant to highlight at this stage and I am sure that most of you must have experienced
this in your personal life the 3 most common group problems. They are :

a b
Apathy and
Conflict or fight
non-participation
a
Inadequate decision making

In the first, conflict or fight it has been used in a metaphorical sense; it means disagreement,
hostility, tension and a status of conflict. This may be a result of impossible work conditions or
problems or a genuine inability to solve a problem.

Some of the common reasons for apathy are : the problem handled by the group does not
seem important enough to its members, non-methodical way of work and poor co-ordination
amongst members a prolonged argument and fight amongst few members who seem to
dominate the group making less dominant feel helpless and apathetic. The consequences of
taking on responsibility may also be frightening, for fear of exposing oneself to failure, ridicule
or being embarassed.