Group Dynamics

[Dave1001]

Probably one of the most critical areas of social intelligence:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dynamics

Let's discuss. I was inspired to start this thread by a post (by Eons of Eons?) about how s/he has learned to get along better with a group of women by simply talking more, and in particular has noticed that they like agreement and extensive talk about a particular topic.

[Kaylee]

You may be interested in books by Deborah Tannen (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-9265615-6763004?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=deborah+tannen), a Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She has written books and articles for both the professional and general-readers market. IIRC, her general theme is that there are significant communication differences between genders, cultures, regions, and socioeconomic classes -- and that not everyone is aware of all these differences. This of course leads to communication break downs and misunderstandings.

I would be interested in knowing people's opinion about her work, especially those that have an academic background related to her field. As I have learned from forum discussions about Daniel Goleman, being a best seller is no guarantee that one actually has the respect of peers in their field.

FWIW, when I first read about Deborah Tannen, I found out that she has a hearing loss incurred from a childhood case of the mumps. I had often wondered if that was part of the reason that she became interested in sociolinguistics. It turns out that she had thought so too. From an article written back in 2001:

http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/01/authors_tannen051401.htm (http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/01/authors_tannen051401.htm)

Fairfax, VA: You once mentioned that you are moderately hearing impaired. I wonder if you could give us instances of communication problems faced by hearing impaired people who don't understand metamessaging and alignment.

Deborah Tannen: That's an interesting question. I often thought I became more sensitive to meta-messages and other unstated aspects of communication precisely because of my hearing impairment, so I had to be attuned to other nonverbal signs as well as tone of voice, facial expression, etc...

I don't think hearing impairment in itself leads to less understanding of alignment or meta messages. I have however been told by members of the deaf community that the norm leans more toward directness than is common in the hearing community. Therefore, they sometimes need to make appropriate adjustments when talking to hearing people.


[FWIW, as a hard of hearing person who has met a number of other hard of heairng people over the years, I disagree with her assessment of the impact of hearing loss on understanding group dynamics. Based on my observations I think it can have a negative impact on significant numbers of people:

who were hard of hearing early in life, especially before language was acquired
the loss was categorized as "severe" (the "official" category of hearing loss next to profound deafness) or even just moderate (the next category of deafness),
and were raised strictly oral with no exposure to sign language.]

[Kaylee]

One thing that I find interesting about group dynamics is how it changes one-on-one dynamics outside of the group, even if you knew someone previously in another role. The effects have ranged from positive, neutral to negative.

Examples: I've known people as friends first and then latter as fellow board or committee members. I've also known people as fellow students, become friends with them, and then later became co-workers with them.
I have found that people differ significantly in how they handle the additional roles. I have also found it very illuminating and confirmation that it's difficult to be sure if you truly know someone well if you only see them in one role or setting.

[Dave1001]

One thing that I find interesting about group dynamics is how it changes one-on-one dynamics outside of the group, even if you knew someone previously in another role. The effects have ranged from positive, neutral to negative.

Examples: I've known people as friends first and then latter as fellow board or committee members. I've also known people as fellow students, become friends with them, and then later became co-workers with them.
I have found that people differ significantly in how they handle the additional roles. I have also found it very illuminating and confirmation that it's difficult to truly know someone well if you only see them in one role or setting.

Looks like I found a kindred spirit in this interest. :)

Thanks for the reading recommendation. I'll look it up after my finals at the latest. In particular, I'm looking forward to learning new terminology such as "meta-messages" that'll help me in thinking about and discussing these topics.

[Kaylee]

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=2563157#post2563157 (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=2563157#post2563157)

I just like that you're discussing social intelligence, a top interest of mine. I think in-group/out-group formations and intra-group heirarchies are often constructed using agreement matrixes, where the empirical validity of the topic of discussion is less important than demonstrating one's social intelligence by agreeing & disagreeing with the right people, situationally. Not just for women, but generally, although I suspect women employ them more in part due to what may be generally superior social intelligence relative to men.

I'm curious about published research in this particular area, and blogs on these type topics

I just read your post in the other thread. I agree and BTW, what book or article did you summarize that from? :p

In most IRL situations, I can't express my opinion without taking other considerations into account. Here I can just post. So that's why I post here. ;) It’s a pleasure to be able to exchange ideas without being concerned about other factors. And I like the expectation that, where ever possible, facts need to be backed up by studies or original reports. Sadly, most people I know aren't interested in talking about the topics we discuss here and certainly not under the same ground rules, but I think a large part of that is simply due to the lack of time.

[Kaylee]

Looks like I found a kindred spirit in this interest. :)

Thanks for the reading recommendation. I'll look it up after my finals at the latest. In particular, I'm looking forward to learning new terminology such as "meta-messages" that'll help me in thinking about and discussing these topics.

It is an interesting topic. :)

Hopefully others will start posting here also. It would be nice for one thing to find out if Deborah Tannen is closer to being the Howard Gardner or the Daniel Goleman of her field.

Good luck with your finals.