scholarly journals Five Currents of Organizational Psychology—from Group Norms to Enforced Change

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Christian Mossfeldt Nickelsen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Development ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Organizational Psychology ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Interpersonal Process ◽  
Group Norms ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Process Consultation ◽  
The Social

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>This article discusses five currents in organizational psychology that have had particular significance in relation to the field of organizational development in Scandinavia:The social psychological, the socio-technical, the humanistic, the work psychological, and the social constructionist currents. I discuss central tenets from leading scholars in relation to group norms, contextualized working tasks, and conflicts among groups. Although treated differently, the phenomena of the small group, group dynamics, resistance to change, and process consultation are throughgoing.These phenomena link the discipline together into a mutually discordant, but relatively consistent discipline.While the early currents focused on interpersonal process based on dialogue for the sake of satisfaction and efficiency, the latter sees movement as a goal in itself. The analysis exposes a decrease over time of analytical interest in group norms, contextualized tasks, and avoidance of conflict. This focus on continual change has negative implications for the credibility of the discipline. </span></p></div></div></div>

Small Group Dynamics and Survival on Chronic Hemodialysis

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Gordon Foster ◽  
F. Patrick McKegney
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Chronic Hemodialysis ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Dialysis Unit ◽  
Group Assignment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Staff Interactions ◽  
Group A ◽  
Group B

Two groups of patients undergoing hemodialysis for chronic renal failure were prospectively studied for twenty-four months. Group A patients (n=12) were dialyzed on Mondays and Thursdays; Group B patients (n=9) on Tuesdays and Fridays. Although patients were supposedly assigned to dialysis groups on a random basis, over a twenty-four month period Group A had significantly more deaths (7 patients) than did Group B (none). This phenomenon is interpreted in the framework of an ongoing intergroup interaction among patients and between patients and staff, as conceptualized in the Tavistock Model propounded by Bion. It is hypothesized that in the dialysis unit, unconscious splitting by the staff led to a bias in patient-group assignment, such that those patients with more severe personality disruption, and “bad” in that sense, were assigned to Group A. Since patients in Groups A and B did not differ significantly in biological or demographic parameters at time of entry into the study, it is suggested that the increasing density of psychopathology in Group A was related to poorer care, more physical morbidity and a decreasing survival rate. Although no intermediary psychobiological mechanisms were defined, these findings suggest a significant interaction between the social, psychological and biological factors determining survival on chronic renal hemodialysis, beginning with the treatment decision and continuing throughout the course of treatment. These phenomena should be studied further and may have important implications for planning patient care and patient-staff interactions.

Unionization in Singapore: A Social Psychological Study

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-324
Author(s):  
◽  
David Wan Tai Wai
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Job Characteristics ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Recruitment Strategies ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
The Social

AbstractThis study examines the nature of collective action (unionisation) in the manufacturing sector in Singapore, using the social psychological analytical framework as proposed by Guest and Dewe (1988). It was found that among the four explanations of union joining, influence from colleagues emerged as the most important discriminator between members and non-members. This was followed by the costs and benefits of joining a union. Employee dissatisfaction as well as personal and job characteristics did contribute to the prediction of membership status but were of lesser significance. Implications of the findings highlighted the need to further our understanding of how group dynamics affect the unionisation process and how current recruitment strategies can be improved. With a sound appreciation of the demand for and supply of union services in Singapore, this will bring present membership growth to even newer heights.

Narcissistic group dynamics in multiparty systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 310-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Schruijer
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Interorganizational Relationships ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multiparty Systems ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Cross Fertilization

Purpose – This paper aims to introduce and illustrate the notion of narcissistic group dynamics. It is claimed that narcissism does not simply reside within individuals but can be characteristic of groups and social systems. In this case, the focus is on narcissistic dynamics in multiparty systems. Design/methodology/approach – Social psychological understandings of group narcissism are complemented with notions from psychoanalysis. A systems-psychodynamic perspective, informed by psychoanalysis and systems theory, is adopted. Findings – Narcissistic group dynamics in a multiparty context are illustrated by observations from a two-day simulation of interorganizational relationships that is called “The Yacht Club” (Vansina et al., 1998). Originality/value – In the social psychological literature, narcissism thus far has been largely understood as the prevalence of feelings of ingroup superiority vis-à-vis a particular outgroup. Sometimes the term narcissism is explicitly used, in other cases not, for example in social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), a theory that is built on group members’ need to regulate self-esteem. Psychoanalysts adopt an individualistic perspective while aiming to understand the underlying dynamics resulting in narcissism. A cross-fertilization of social psychological and psychoanalytic perspectives results in deindividualizing and depathologizing narcissism and a deeper understanding of the dynamics of (inter)group narcissism.

scholarly journals The Social Psychology of Citizenship, Participation and Social Exclusion: Introduction to the Special Thematic Section

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford Stevenson ◽  
John Dixon ◽  
Nick Hopkins ◽  
Russell Luyt
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Reflective Process ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Thematic Section ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Psychological Research

The aim of this special thematic section is to bring together recent social psychological research on the topic of citizenship with a view to discerning the emerging trends within the field and its potential contributions to the broader interdisciplinary area of citizenship studies. Eight papers spanning diverse theoretical traditions (including social identity, social representations and discursive approaches) apply an array of methods to consider different aspects of citizenship across a variety of cultural and national contexts. Some focus on individuals’ perceptions and discussions of citizenship, others examine the group dynamics which flow from these understandings, and the rest examine the potential for citizenship to exclude as well as include marginalised communities. While diverse, the contributions share some core commonalities: all share a concern in trying to understand citizenship from the perspective of the citizen; all conceptualise citizenship as an active and reflective process occurring between members of a community; and all highlight the irreducibly social and collective nature of the experience and practice of citizenship in everyday life. We propose that these elements of convergence have the potential to give the social psychology of citizenship a solid basis and recognisable profile in order to contribute to the broader arena of citizenship studies.

scholarly journals Social Construction and Relationalism: A Conversation with Kenneth Gergen

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan C. Aceros
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Relational Theory ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Development Education ◽  
Psychological Constructs ◽  
Education Community ◽  
The Social

Kenneth Gergen is one of the most widely known contributors to social constructionist thought in the world today. Since the publication of his paper “Social Psychology as History” he has become a central player in what is known as the Social Psychology Crisis. In his academic career, and from what he has called ‘Relational Theory’, Gergen has revisited a significant number of psychological constructs and has proposed various dialogical and collaborative practices in therapy, organizational development, education, community development, social work and peace-building, among other things. This paper is a conversation with Gergen in which together we explore the particular way in which he understands the social constructionist movement. It is also a conversation about relational theory and related practices.

Person Perception, Meet People Perception: Exploring the Social Vision of Groups

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162110178
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Alt ◽  
L. Taylor Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Person Perception ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Vision ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
Future Work

Groups, teams, and collectives —people—are incredibly important to human behavior. People live in families, work in teams, and celebrate and mourn together in groups. Despite the huge variety of human group activity and its fundamental importance to human life, social-psychological research on person perception has overwhelmingly focused on its namesake, the person, rather than expanding to consider people perception. By looking to two unexpected partners, the vision sciences and organization behavior, we find emerging work that presents a path forward, building a foundation for understanding how people perceive other people. And yet this nascent field is missing critical insights that scholars of social vision might offer: specifically, for example, the chance to connect perception to behavior through the mediators of cognition and motivational processes. Here, we review emerging work across the vision and social sciences to extract core principles of people perception: efficiency, capacity, and complexity. We then consider complexity in more detail, focusing on how people perception modifies person-perception processes and enables the perception of group emergent properties as well as group dynamics. Finally, we use these principles to discuss findings and outline areas fruitful for future work. We hope that fellow scholars take up this people-perception call.

Looking at the gap between social psychological and psychodynamic perspectives on group dynamics historically

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra G.L. Schruijer ◽  
Petru L. Curseu
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wilfred Bion ◽  
The Social

Purpose – The paper aims to describe and understand the gap between the psychodynamic literature on groups and the social psychological perspective on group dynamics. Design/methodology/approach – As Wilfred Bion is the most influential group dynamics representative of the psychodynamic tradition the authors performed a citation analysis of Bion's work to find out whether it influenced the social psychological research on group dynamics. They compared three domains of literature: therapy/clinical, management/organization studies and social psychology. Moreover, they depict (by drawing on interviews with European pioneers in social psychology) the historical context in which European social psychology developed to explain the gap between the psychodynamic and social psychological approaches in the study of group dynamics. Findings – The results clearly indicate the existence of a gap between the social psychological and psychodynamic perspectives on group dynamics. Moreover, the authors show that Bion did influence scholars studying or working with real-life groups and is cited more by American than European scholars. The attempt to build a legitimate scientific identity for social psychology provides a context for understanding of the neglect of the psychodynamic tradition. Research limitations/implications – The authors conclude by exploring ways in which the psychodynamic tradition may fertilize the social psychological tradition in studying groups. Originality/value – The paper is one of the first to address the discrepancy between the social psychological and psychodynamic perspectives in the study of group dynamics.

scholarly journals Indian Idols Drinking Milk: Understanding the Phenomenon and Its Implications for Social Reform

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Ramadhar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Group Norms ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Psychological Phenomenon ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
Drinking Milk

The mass media have occasionally been reporting miracles such as stone idols sipping milk or bleeding in India. The author argues for viewing such irrational happenings as the examples of the social psychological phenomenon of conformity to the group norms (i.e., informal, unwritten prescriptions of what the group might think to be right and desirable). By identifying people as likely (1) sources of accurate information and (2) standards of desirable behaviors in a given situation, it is proposed that a shift from conformity to the norms to compliance to the laws might be helpful in building a New India.

Beyond the Pales of Babylon: The Ideational Components and Social Psychological Foundations of Rastafari

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alemseghed Kebede ◽  
J. David Knottnerus
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Mobilization Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Social Movement ◽  
Directing Attention

While resource mobilization theory has been the dominant paradigm for the study of social movements in the last several decades, critics contend that it is flawed because it glosses over the role of ideational elements in the development of such collective ventures. As a corrective to the weaknesses of this approach, we utilize a recently developed social psychological framework derived from the social constructionist perspective and the new social movement literature to examine a non-western social movement primarily located in the Caribbean, Rastafari. Concepts used to analyze the Rastafari include social movement community, framing, and collective identity. In directing attention to the symbolic beliefs and informal social processes of this group, we suggest that both political and religious motivations shape the Rastafarians' perceptions of the dominant order which they oppose (i.e., Babylon). Attention is also directed to the Rastafarians' ability to refashion their language and interpretations of the world. This study, we argue, is significant because it contributes to international, historical, and/or comparative research of collective enterprises, which is essential to a more comprehensive understanding of social movements.

Providing Freshmen with a Good “Starting-Block”

2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 69-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikaël De Clercq ◽  
Charlotte Michel ◽  
Sophie Remy ◽  
Benoît Galand
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Student Adjustment ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Pivotal Phase ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Study Task ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Belonging ◽  
Intention To Persist

Abstract. Grounded in social-psychological literature, this experimental study assessed the effects of two so-called “wise” interventions implemented in a student study program. The interventions took place during the very first week at university, a presumed pivotal phase of transition. A group of 375 freshmen in psychology were randomly assigned to three conditions: control, social belonging, and self-affirmation. Following the intervention, students in the social-belonging condition expressed less social apprehension, a higher social integration, and a stronger intention to persist one month later than the other participants. They also relied more on peers as a source of support when confronted with a study task. Students in the self-affirmation condition felt more self-affirmed at the end of the intervention but didn’t benefit from other lasting effects. The results suggest that some well-timed and well-targeted “wise” interventions could provide lasting positive consequences for student adjustment. The respective merits of social-belonging and self-affirmation interventions are also discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document