Group cohesiveness facts for kids
Group cohesiveness, also known as group cohesion or social cohesion, is when members of a social group feel connected to each other and to the group as a whole. It's like the "glue" that holds a group together!
This connection isn't just one thing. It includes four main parts: how people relate to each other, how they work on tasks together, how much they feel like a team, and the emotions they share. When a group is strongly cohesive, its members are more likely to join in and stick with the group.
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What is Group Cohesion?
The word "cohesion" comes from old Latin and French words meaning "to stick together." In science, it describes the force that holds molecules in a liquid or solid together.
For groups, most experts agree that cohesion means two main things:
- Being committed to a shared task or goal.
- Liking and getting along with other group members.
So, group cohesion is when a group tends to stay united while working towards a goal or to meet the emotional needs of its members.
This idea of cohesion has a few important features:
- Many parts: It's based on many different factors.
- Changes over time: It can grow stronger or weaker as a group forms and changes.
- Purposeful: People stick together for a reason, whether it's to finish a project or just to be social.
- Good feelings: Being part of a cohesive group usually feels good to its members.
This definition works for many types of groups, like sports teams, work teams, military units, clubs, and social groups.
How Group Cohesion Starts
The connections between group members don't just appear. They grow from several key ingredients. These ingredients are often called "antecedents" because they come before and help create cohesion. They also help define what cohesion is.
Attraction to Each Other
One big part of group cohesion is how much members like each other. In 1950, researchers Festinger and his team looked at how much group members chose other members as good friends. The more they chose people within their group, the more cohesive the group was.
Even if members like each other personally, true group cohesion is more about liking others because they are part of the same group. This is called social attraction. It means you like someone because they are a typical member of your group. When people start to like each other more deeply, a simple group can become a truly cohesive one.
Feeling of Belonging
In a cohesive group, individuals often feel like they blend together to form a single unit. Outsiders looking at the group might see how tightly bonded they are.
Group members show their sense of belonging by being loyal to the group, identifying with it, and seeing themselves as true members. They might use words like "family," "us," "community," or "team" to describe their unity.
Working Together (Coordination)
Sometimes, cohesion is less about personal friendships and more about everyone being willing to work together to reach common goals. For example, teams like flight crews or military squads are very focused on achieving their objectives. This shared drive to succeed can make a group very cohesive.
A clear sign of a cohesive group is when members share positive feelings. If one group member is treated unfairly, others might feel upset too. When all members of a group experience the same strong emotional reaction, it's a collective emotion. These shared emotions are even stronger when members feel a deep connection to their group.
What Makes Cohesion Stronger?
Several things can make group members feel more connected. These can be positive things (like rewards for the group) or negative things (like what you might lose if you leave the group). The main factors that influence group cohesion are:
- How similar the members are.
- The size of the group.
- How hard it is to join.
- The group's past successes.
- Outside competition or threats.
These factors often work by making individuals feel more connected to their group and believe that the group can help them meet their personal needs.
Similarities Among Members
When group members are similar, it can affect cohesion in different ways. If cohesion is seen as personal liking, then similarities in background (like age or job), attitudes, values, and personality often lead to stronger cohesion.
If cohesion is about social attraction, then similarity helps people see themselves and others as part of the "in-group." The more similar you feel to other group members, the stronger the group cohesion can be.
Also, similar backgrounds often mean members share similar ideas about group goals, how to communicate, and what kind of leadership they want. When members agree more on group rules, there's more trust and fewer disagreements, which strengthens both emotional and task-focused cohesion.
Difficulty of Joining
Groups that are hard to join often seem more special or exclusive. The harder it is to get in, the more prestigious it feels to be a member.
Studies have shown that if someone goes through a tough initiation to join a group, they might value the group more, even if some parts of it are not perfect. This happens because people tend to justify the effort they put in. So, the value of the group grows in the member's mind.
Group Size
Smaller groups tend to be more cohesive than larger ones. This is often because of something called social loafing. Social loafing is when individual members in a large group put in less effort because they think other members will pick up the slack. This is less likely to happen in smaller groups where everyone's contribution is more noticeable.
What Happens Because of Cohesion?
Group cohesion can lead to both good and bad outcomes. Let's look at how it affects motivation, performance, member happiness, emotional well-being, and group pressure.
Motivation
When a team is cohesive, its members are usually more motivated. This is a big help for a company's success. When people feel confident and supported within their team, they are more likely to try harder and improve. Social loafing is also less common in cohesive teams because everyone feels more driven to contribute.
Performance
Many studies show a clear link between cohesion and how well a group performs. Cohesion can lead to better performance, and good performance can also make a group more cohesive!
This link holds true even when cohesion is defined differently. If cohesion means members like each other, it's strongly connected to performance. If it means being committed to a task, it's also linked to performance, though maybe a bit less strongly.
The connection between cohesion and performance can be stronger in some groups than others. Smaller groups often show a better link. For example, the relationship is often strongest in sports teams, then military squads, then groups formed for a specific purpose, and finally, groups in experimental settings. Cohesion might also be more important for groups where members rely heavily on each other to get things done.
For a group to be truly productive, just liking each other or having group pride isn't enough. Members also need to be committed to the task. Groups with high performance goals are often very productive.
Member Satisfaction
Studies show that people in cohesive groups are generally happier and more satisfied than those in non-cohesive groups. This is true in many different places, like workplaces, sports teams, and schools. Members of cohesive groups also tend to be more positive and have fewer social problems.
For example, in one study, a team of builders worked in groups that changed often. After a while, the researchers put people who liked each other into the same groups. The builders reported being much more satisfied when they worked with people they liked. One worker said, "the work is more interesting when you've got a buddy working with you. You certainly like it a lot better anyway."
Emotional Well-being
People in cohesive groups often have better emotional well-being. They tend to feel less anxious and stressed. It's also been found that people cope better with stress when they belong to a cohesive group.
One study showed that when a group is under stress, being cohesive (especially with task commitment) can help them make better decisions. For instance, teams with high cohesion performed better under pressure than teams with low cohesion. This suggests that cohesion can really help groups make good choices during tough times.
On the other hand, while cohesive groups can offer support, they can also sometimes put emotional demands on members, like dealing with disagreements or unfair treatment.
Pressure to Fit In
People in cohesive groups can feel more pressure to conform, or fit in, than those in less cohesive groups. This is sometimes linked to a concept called groupthink, where the pressure to agree can stop a group from thinking critically about its decisions.
This happens because group members interact a lot, creating many chances to influence each other. Also, people in a group often see other members as similar to themselves, making them more willing to give in to group pressure. Another reason is that people value being part of the group, so they're more willing to conform to keep or improve their relationships within it.
Sometimes, this pressure to fit in can lead to negative outcomes. Studies have shown that if a person's friends engage in risky or rule-breaking activities, that person is more likely to do the same, even if they wouldn't normally. This highlights how strong the influence of a cohesive group can be.
Learning
Researchers Albert and Bernice Lott studied how group cohesion affected individual learning. They wanted to see if children would learn better when studying with friends they liked compared to peers they didn't like. They found that children with higher IQs performed better on learning tests when they were in highly cohesive groups. For children with lower IQs, cohesion made less difference, though there was still a slight trend for them to do better in cohesive groups. The researchers believed that when children worked with friends, they had a greater desire to learn.
See also
In Spanish: Cohesión social para niños
- Community cohesion
- Cultural identity
- Structural cohesion
- Urban vitality
