The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-making behaviour, tracking the spread of diseases in society, creating effective therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and technologies.
[2] On the sociological side, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who was influenced by Wundt, also recognized collective phenomena, such as public knowledge.
[5] Throughout his career, Lewin was focused on how the study of group dynamics could be applied to real-world, social issues.
As human's social environments became more complex, they acquired adaptations by way of group dynamics that enhance survival.
Examples include mechanisms for dealing with status, reciprocity, identifying cheaters, ostracism, altruism, group decision, leadership, and intergroup relations.
Theodor Adorno reprised Freud's essay in 1951 with his Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda, and said that "It is not an overstatement if we say that Freud, though he was hardly interested in the political phase of the problem, clearly foresaw the rise and nature of fascist mass movements in purely psychological categories.
"[7] Jacob L. Moreno was a psychiatrist, dramatist, philosopher and theoretician who coined the term "group psychotherapy" in the early 1930s and was highly influential at the time.
Examples of common barriers are: expectations and preconceptions; prejudices; ideology, counterproductive norms, theology and solutions; the need to heal, convert, fix or solve and the need to control.
Richard Hackman developed a synthetic, research-based model for designing and managing work groups.
[14] In many fields of research, there is an interest in understanding how group dynamics influence individual behaviour, attitudes, and opinions.
For example, there are group dynamics in the U.S. South that sustain a culture of honor, which is associated with norms of toughness, honour-related violence, and self-defence.
For example, three best friends who interact every day as well as a collection of people watching a movie in a theater both constitute a group.
For example, in an experiment,[32] participants were asked to sort a number of groups into categories based on their own criteria.
Examples of groups to be sorted were a sports team, a family, people at a bus stop and women.
For example, individuals are born into a primary group, their family, which creates a foundation for them to base their future relationships.
[30] Examples of collectives include a flash mob, an audience at a movie, and a crowd watching a building burn.
[30] For this reason, categories can appear to be higher in entitativity and essentialism than primary, social, and collective groups.
The degree of entitativity that a group has is influenced by whether a collection of individuals experience the same fate, display similarities, and are close in proximity.
[51] Frequently studied elements of group structure include roles, norms, values, communication patterns, and status differentials.
They are a fundamental aspect of group structure as they provide direction and motivation, and organize the social interactions of members.
Another potential downside of decentralized communications is the sheer volume of information that can be generated, particularly with electronic media.
[53] Further to Triplett's observation, in 1920, Floyd Allport found that although people in groups were more productive than individuals, the quality of their product/effort was inferior.
[53] In 1965, Robert Zajonc expanded the study of arousal response (originated by Triplett) with further research in the area of social facilitation.
[53] Several theories analysing performance gains in groups via drive, motivational, cognitive and personality processes, explain why social facilitation occurs.
In relation to performance gains, Goffman's self-presentation theory predicts, in situations where they may be evaluated, individuals will consequently increase their efforts in order to project/preserve/maintain a positive image.
In some cases, intergroup dynamics is prosocial, positive, and beneficial (for example, when multiple research teams work together to accomplish a task or goal).
[60] Similarly, underlying the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado, United States, intergroup dynamics played a significant role in Eric Harris’ and Dylan Klebold’s decision to kill a teacher and 14 students (including themselves).
The formation of intergroup conflict was investigated in a popular series of studies by Muzafer Sherif and colleagues in 1961, called the Robbers Cave Experiment.
[65] Further, he suggested four optimal conditions for contact: equal status between the groups in the situation; common goals; intergroup cooperation; and the support of authorities, law, or customs.
[66] Since then, over 500 studies have been done on prejudice reduction under variations of the contact hypothesis, and a meta-analytic review suggests overall support for its efficacy.