Theories of Group Formation

1.Propinquity Theory
2.Homans Interaction Theory
3.Balance Theory
4.Exchange Theory
 Propinquity Theory
• The term propinquity means nearness

• The theory of propinquity states that the individuals affiliate with one
another because of spatial or geographical proximity

• Thus individuals working together tend to form a groupn an

organization, employees who work in the same area of the plant or
office would more probably form into groups than those who are not
physically located together. The propinquity theory explains a basic
factor, i.e., proximity of people at the workplace, which leads to
formation of groups. This phenomenon is observed in daily practice
by all of us.
 Homans Interaction Theory
• Homans theory is based on activities, interactions and sentiments

• The more activities persons share, the more numerous will be interaction
and stronger will be shared activities and sentiments
• Interactions not only to achieve a goal, but also to solve problems,
facilitate coordination, reduce tension and achieve a balance

Activities Interactions

Sentiments
 Balance Theory
• Persons are attracted to one another on the basis of similar attitudes
towards commonly relevant objects and goals
• If imbalance occurs, attempts are made to restore the balance, If the
balance cannot be restored, the relationship dissolves
• Both propinquity and interaction play a role in the balance theory.
Thus, the balance theory is additive in nature in the sense that it
introduces the factor of 'balance' to the propinquity and interaction
factors
• There must be a balance in the relationship between the group
members for the group to be formed and for its survival
 Exchange Theory
• People involve in social exchange on the basis of perceived reward-
cost relationship
• Individual will join a group on the basis of the outcomes of reward
and cost
• Rewards is in the form of gratifying needs

• Cost is in the form of anxiety, frustration, fatigue

• If the reward is equal to, or more than cost, the individual will join the
group, In the reverse case, he will not join the group.
• Propinquity, interaction and common attitudes all have roles in the
exchange theory.
FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
• The success or failure of a group depends
upon so many factors. 
• Group member resources
• Group structure (group size, group roles, group
norms, and group cohesiveness)
• Group processes (the communication, group
decision making processes, power dynamics,
conflicting interactions, etc.) 
• Group tasks (complexity and interdependence).
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
1.GROUP MEMBER RESOURCES
The members’ knowledge, abilities, skills; and
personality characteristics (sociability, self-
reliance, and independence) are the resources
the group members bring in with them. The
success depends upon these resources as
useful to the task.
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
2.GROUP STRUCTURE
a)Group Size:
• Group size can vary from 2 people to a very large number of people. 
• Small groups of two to ten are thought to be more effective because
each member has ample opportunity to take part and engage
actively in the group
• Large groups may waste time by deciding on processes and trying to
decide who should participate next.
• Increasing the size of a group beyond 10-12 members’ results in
decreased satisfaction.
• It is increasingly difficult for members of large groups to identify with
one another and experience cohesion.
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR

b) GROUP ROLES
• Each role shall have specific responsibilities and duties. There are,
however, emergent roles that develop naturally to meet the needs of
the groups.
• Group roles can then be classified into work roles, maintenance
roles, and blocking roles.
• Work roles are task-oriented activities that involve accomplishing the
group’s goals. They involve a variety of specific roles such as initiator,
informer, clarifier, summarizer, and reality tester.
• Maintenance roles are social-emotional activities that help members
maintain their involvement in the group and raise their personal
commitment to the group. The maintenance roles are harmonizer,
gatekeeper, consensus tester, encourager, and compromiser.
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
• Blocking roles are activities that disrupt the group. Blockers will
stubbornly resist the group’s ideas, disagree with group members for
personal reasons, and will have hidden agendas. They may take the
form of dominating discussions, verbally attacking other group
members, and distracting the group with trivial information or
unnecessary humour.
• Often times the blocking behaviour may not be intended as negative.
Sometimes a member may share a joke in order to break the tension,
or may question a decision in order to force group members to
rethink the issue. The blocking roles are aggressor, blocker,
dominator, comedian, and avoidance behaviour.
• Role conflicts arise when there is ambiguity (confusion about
delegation and no specific job descriptions) between the sent role
and the received role which leads to frustration and dissatisfaction, 
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR

c) GROUP NORMS:
• Norms define the acceptable standard or boundaries of
acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, shared by group
members.
• They are typically created in order to facilitate group survival,
make behaviour more predictable, avoid embarrassing situations,
and express the values of the group.
• The norms often reflect the level of commitment, motivation, and
performance of the group.
• The majority of the group must agree that the norms are
appropriate in order for the behaviour to be accepted. There must
also be a shared understanding that the group supports the norms. 
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
d) GROUP COHESIVENESS:
Cohesiveness refers to the bonding of group members or unity,
feelings of attraction for each other and desire to remain part of the
group.
• Many factors influence the amount of group cohesiveness –
agreement on group goals, frequency of interaction, personal
attractiveness, inter-group competition, favourable evaluation, etc.
• Cohesiveness in work groups has many positive effects, including
worker satisfaction, low turnover and absenteeism, and higher
productivity.
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
3.GROUP PROCESSES:
• Group process includes the communication patterns used by
members for information exchange, group decision processes,
leader behavior, conflicts and the like
• Decision-making by a group is superior, because group generates
more information and knowledge, generates diverse alternatives,
increases acceptance of a solution, and increases legitimacy. 
 FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP BEHAVIOUR
4.Group Tasks:
Task may be simple, routine and standardized or they be complex,
non routine, and novel. The nature of the task moderates the group
process and effect group performance and member satisfaction.
For certain kind of tasks, large groups are more suitable while for
some tasks smaller groups are desirable. Greater interaction among
group members is required when there is a high degree of
interdependence among the tasks that group members must
perform.
 Group Dynamics
• The group dynamics is concerned with the
interaction between the group members in a social
situation
• This helps to recognize the formation of group and
how a group should be organized, lead and
promoted.

According to Kurt Lewin,” Group dynamics deal with

internal nature of groups, how they are formed,
what structure and processes they adopt, how they
function and affect individual members, other groups
and organization
 PRINCIPLES OF GROUP DYNAMICS

1.The members of the group must have a strong

sense of belonging to the group .The barrier
between the leaders and to be led must be
broken down.

2. The more attraction a group is to its

members, the greater influence it would
exercise on its members.
PRINCIPLES OF GROUP DYNAMICS
3.The successful efforts to change individuals
sub parts of the group would result in making
them confirm to the norms of the group.
4. The pressures for change when strong can be
established in the group by creating a shared
perception by the members for the need for
the change.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
The important characteristics of group dynamics are as follows:
1) Perception:
Group dynamics as defined by perception implies that every number
of the group is aware of the respective relationship with others. The
group consists of members. They develop some impression or
perception about each other and give their reactions to each other.
Each member perceives the group differently which he reveals at
some situation
2) Motivation:
Members join groups because they expect that the group will solve
their problems. They want progress and promotion which are
achieved through group performance. The pressures and problems
are jointly met by them. Group norms emerge to guide individual
behaviour. Cooperative feelings are increased for helping each
other. The group is developed taking into consideration individual
interests.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
join groups to get their pay and working problems redressed.
3) Group Goals:
Group goals are targets towards which input, process and output
are directed. Group goal is the essential component of group
formation, although it is not the only condition for forming a group. A
goal is used for motivating the employees.
4) Group Organization:
It consists of different members to attain certain objectives. It has a
set standard of relationship among its members and also it has a set
of norms that regulate the function of the group. A number of
individuals in the group have definite status, role relationship, set of
values and own regulating behaviour
5) Interdependency:
The main feature of the group is the member interdependence.The
members of a group may have a common goal but they may not be
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
be a part of the group because they are not interdependent. If the
individuals start supporting each other and interact with each other.
If they develop it as a permanent systems. It becomes an
organization. Interdependence must be dynamic
6) Interactions:
Members of a group must interact with each other. If they are
interdependent but do not interact, the group’s goals are not
achieved. If any problem arises, the interaction of all the members is
needed to solve the problem. Interaction between the members of a
group may take different forms.
7) Entity:
A group has its own identity. It is felt and realized but cannot be
seen. The collection of individual experiences becomes the guidelines
for the members. The uniform, office and people becomes the
symbol of a group.
 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
The managerial implications of group dynamics are as follows:
1) Performance:
A number of group properties show a relationship to performance.
Among the more prominent are role perception, norms, status
differences, size of the group and cohesiveness. Under this it includes:
a) A positive relationship exists between role perception and an
employee’s performance evaluation. The degree of congruence that
exists between an employee and his or her boss in the perception of
the employee’s job influences the degree to which that employee will
be judged as an effective performer by the boss. To the extent, that
the employee’s role perception fulfills the boss’s role expectations, the
employee will receive a higher performance evaluation
b) Norms control group member behaviour by establishing standards
of right and wrong. The norms of a given group can help to explain the
behaviours of its members for managers. When norms support
 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
high output, managers can expect individual performance to be
markedly higher than when group norms aim to restrict output.
Similarly norms that support anti social behaviour increase the
likelihood that individuals will engage in deviant workplace activities.
c) Status inequities create frustration and can adversely influence
productivity and the willingness to remain with an organisation.
Among individuals who are equity sensitive, incongruence is likely to
lead to reduced motivation and an increased search for ways to bring
about fairness(EG: taking another job). In addition, because lower
status people tend to participate less in group discussions, groups
characterised by high status differences among members are likely to
inhibit input from the lowest status members and to
underperformed potential.
d) The impact of size on a group’s performance depends on the type of
task in which the group is engaged. Larger groups are more effective
at fact finding activities. Smaller groups are more effective at action
making tasks. Our knowledge of social loafing suggest that if
 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
management uses larger groups, efforts should be made to provide
measures of individual performance within the group
e) Cohesiveness can play an important function in influencing a group’s
level of productivity. Whether or not it depends on the group’s
performance related norms.
2) Satisfaction:
Here role conflict is associated with job induced tension and job
dissatisfaction
a) Most people prefer to communicate with others at their own
status level or a higher one rather than with those below them. As a
result, we should expect satisfaction to be greater among employees
whose jobs minimize interaction with individuals who are lower in
status than themselves
b) The group size satisfaction relationship is what one would
intuitively expect – Larger groups are associated with lower
satisfaction. As
 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS
size increases, opportunities for participation and social interaction
decrease, as does the ability of members to identify with the group’s
accomplishments. At the same time, having more members also
prompts dissension, conflict and the formation of sub groups, which
all act to make the group less pleasant for individual participants.
 Informal Leaders
An informal leader is someone within an organization or work unit
who, by virtue of how he or she is perceived by his peers (or others in
the organization) is seens as worthy of paying attention to, or
following. The major thing that distinguishes an informal leader from
a formal one is that the informal leader does NOT hold a position of
power or formal authority over those that choose to follow him or
her.
The ability for an informal leader to influence or lead others rests on
the ability of that person to evoke respect, confidence, and trust in
others, and it is not uncommon for an informal leader to NOT
intentionally try to lead.
Informal leaders can be exceedingly valuable to organizations, and to
the success of formal leaders, OR, if informal leaders do not support
the formal leaders and their agendas and vision, they can function as
barriers in the organization.
 INFORMAL LEADERS
When informal leaders are working towards achieving the same vision
and goals as the formal leaders (and the organization itself), they can
take a tremendous burden from the backs of managers and formal
leaders. Some of the leadership functions, and many management
functions can actually be carried out informally by those without
actual authority. This frees those with formal management
responsibility to focus on what they, themselves can uniquely do.

Here are a few bullet points to help you understand the

power informal leaders have in any organization.

• Not all informal leaders have intentionally gone out of their ways to
become informal leaders. Sometiimes they "emerge" simply because
others in the organization have great respect for them.
 INFORMAL LEADERS
• While informal leaders can be important or even essential to the
success of an organization, they can also be huge impediments if
they start pulling in directions that are in opposition to the direction
the formal leaders value. For the reason above, formal leaders may
want to take steps to develop their informal leaders more
completely, and keep lines of communication open with them.

• While it may seem that promoting informal leaders to formal

positions of power makes sense, it's also the case that some informal
leaders may become ineffective if given formal authority (while some
may be very successful). This is because formal authority may alter
the relationships of the new formal leader with his or her formal
peers.
 INFORMAL LEADERS
• Care needs to be taken when trying to harness the power of informal
leadership. An informal leader's power and influence often derives
from the perception that he or she has integrity, and stands up for
what he or she believes, because their behavior has demonstrated
that. When formal leaders try to co-opt, or manipulate informal
leaders, the risk is that the informal leaders will rebel, or "stand
against" the formal leader. Attempting to bribe, coerce or otherwise
pressure an informal leader to toe the line may end up backfiring.
 GROUP NORMS
Group norms are rules or guidelines that reflect
expectations of how group members should act and
interact. They define what behaviors are acceptable
or not; good or not; right or not; or appropriate or
not
A set of assumptions or expectations held by
members of a group or organization concerning what
kind of behavior is right or wrong, good or bad,
allowed or not allowed. Usually not articulated by
groups members but they can state them if asked.
Norms are a result of what a group is and does. 
 GROUP NORMS
Types of Norms
• As one could expect there are several different types of generally understood
norms. They are:
• Performance norms: Performance norms are centered on how hard a person
should work in a given group. They are informal cues, if you will, that tells a person
or helps a person understand how hard they should work and what type of output
they should have.
• Appearance norms: This type of norm informs or guides us as to how we should
look or what our physical appearance should be - what fashion we should wear or
how we should style our hair or any number of areas related to how we should
look.
• Social arrangement norms: When we talk about this type of norm we generally do
not equate it to a business setting. This norm is centered on how we should act in
social settings. Once again, there are cues we need to pick up on when we are out
with friends or at social events that help us fit in and get a closer connection to the
group.
• Resource allocation norms: For this type of norm we're focusing on the allocation
of resources in a business environment. This can include raw materials as well as
overtime or any other resource found or needed within an organization.
 GROUP NORMS
INFLUENCE OF GROUP NORMS ON INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOUR:
Group norms are specific parameters, or limitations, within which each member of a
group is expected behave personally and towards others. This is done to set the
tone of the group; if the group is going to be serious and goal-oriented, discipline
and rules are a must. If the tone of the group is casual and lively, then the norms
are more lenient. In this manner, group norms affect by setting up the boundaries
and the tone of the role of each individual within the group.