Find, read and analyze one article on the measurement of group cohesion and one article on group evaluation and respond to the following:

Post a 1-2 page summary of the cohesion measure, and how you will utilize this measure in your group.
Post a 1-2 page summary of the group evaluation article and how you will utilize this information to evaluate your group. Measurement of Group Cohesion and Group Evaluation Essay Paper

Measurement of Group Cohesion and Group Evaluation

Groups are very important units in psychology and the treatment of some psychiatric conditions through group therapy. Some of the psychotherapy interventions that make use of group therapy are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy or IPT. These groups traditionally consist of 6-8 patients and undergo the stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and mourning or adjourning (MindTools, n.d.). When groups go through these stages, they start from a point of suspicion as everyone is new to each other. They then learn and understand each other slowly to a point where the members have bonded so well as a family. This is why in the last stage of adjourning (mourning), the group members are angered by the fact that the group is going to be disbanded yet they have become so dependent on each other. The purpose of this paper is to summarise an article each for group cohesion and group evaluation.

Group Cohesion

Going by the explanation given in the introduction above, group cohesion refers to the synergy and strong bonds created among group members when the group is past the formative stages of forming and norming. The article chosen is that by Thornton et al. (2018). The article talks about group cohesion n the context of higher education but the group dynamics are still the same and hence apply too in the case of psychology and psychotherapy. The authors state that group cohesion is critical to the performance of the group. In the case of psychotherapy, this would mean that the clients have bonded well and can encourage and heal each other through curative factors such as altruism, universality, and catharsis.

Group cohesion according to the authors also fosters adherence. What this means is that the group members in a cohesive group feel obliged to stick to the group norms and rules of engagement that were set at the forming stage of the group. It is this adherence that will help the group function and achieve therapeutic goals as intended. A cohesive group with group members that would not adhere to the norms is a group that will still not perform. The authors purposed to look at the correlation between group cohesion and student success. In the context of psychotherapy, group cohesion would be correlated to client recovery and therapeutic success. The sample size was n=107 and the tool used was the Perceived Cohesion Scale for Small Groups or PCS. The findings showed that attendance was positively related to cohesion in the group.      Measurement of Group Cohesion and Group Evaluation Essay Paper

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Group Evaluation

The authors of the article by Branscombe et al. (2002) assessed the methods and factors operational in group evaluation. They posit that individual group members differ in the way they for instance receive respect from the other group members. They argue that members of the group that are respected are the ones that are prone to withhold rewards (of whatever nature) from the other group members. However, the authors state that these respected members are also the ones that commit a lot of their time to ensuring that the group’s agenda and objectives are achieved. In fact, the authors argue that these members would concentrate on improving the image of the group more than their own personal image.

There is a fundamental difference between respected and disrespected group members as far as the above authors are concerned. They have stated that respected members go out of their way for the benefit of everyone in the group. The opposite is true for disrespected members of the group. The authors posit that these so-called disrespected members would only give their all in a group activity if they know well that it would benefit their image personally. Respect from the perspective of the authors is a very significant factor in the success or failure of a group. This according to them is especially so for the disrespected or devalued members of the group. In conclusion, it is important to state that being “disrespected” or “devalued” may just be a matter of perception rather than reality.

References

Branscombe, N.R., Spears, R., Ellemers, N., & Doosje, B. (2002). Intragroup and intergroup evaluation effects on group behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(6), 744–753. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202289004 

Thornton, C., Miller, P., & Perry, K. (2018). The impact of group cohesion on key success measures in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44(4), 542-553. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2019.1594727

Measurement of Group Cohesion and Group Evaluation Essay Paper