1. GROUP GOALS, SOCIAL INTERDEPENDENCE, AND TRUST
Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills
11th Edition
David W. Johnson
Frank P. Johnson

2. What are Group Goals?
People want to achieve goals they are unable to achieve by themselves  they form group
But do group goals exist in and of themselves?
Or are group goals the combination of individual members’ goals? What do you think?

3. Commitment to Group Goals
Group goals need to be
S – Specific
T – Trackable and measurable
A – Achievable but challenging
R – Relevant
T -- Transfer
2. Involve group members in the process of forming goals – ownership

4. Operational Goals
Specific steps to achieving goals are clear and identifiable
Observable, countable, and specific indicators will make it evident when the goal has been achieved
Advantages:
Better communication among group members
Guidance in planning and carrying out group tasks
Help for the group in evaluating both the group process and the group product
Rational conflict resolution

5. How to Set Effective Group Goals?
Look for and recognize hidden agendas
Accept that they are legitimate and must be worked on
Survey-feedback method
Program evaluation and review, or critical path method

6. Social Interdependence Theory
Social interdependence exists when individuals share common goals, and each individual’s outcomes are affected by the actions of the others.
The type of interdependence structured in a situation determines how individuals interact with each other
Social interdependence is different from social dependence and social independence.

7. Psychological illness Psychological pathology
Cooperative
Competitive
Individualistic
Inter-
dependence
Positive
Negative
None
Interaction patterns
Promotive
Oppositional
Effort to achieve
High
Low
Relationship
No relationships
Psychological health
Psychological illness
Psychological pathology

8. Types of Positive Interdependence
Goal interdependence
Celebration/reward interdependence
Resources interdependence
Role interdependence
Identity interdependence
Environmental interdependence
Fantasy interdependence
Task interdependence
Outside enemy interdependence

9. Research on the Effects of Cooperation (Metaanalysis), Compared to Competition and Individualistic Efforts
Efforts to achieve and produce
Quality of relationships
Psychological adjustment and competence
Effect sizes are significantly higher for methodologically high quality studies of pure cooperation (as opposed to mixtures of cooperative, competitive and individualistic efforts)

10. Efforts to Achieve and Produce
Cooperation, compared to competition and individualistic efforts, leads to
Intrinsic motivation, high expectations for success
Greater effort to achieve
Long term retention
Higher level reasoning and critical thinking
Creative thinking – process gain
Group-to-Individual transfer of learning
Positive attitudes towards the task
More time on task
More positive cross-ethnic relationships

11. Quality of Relationships
More liking among individuals 
Stronger group cohesion 
Absenteeism and turnover of membership decrease
Feeling of personal responsibility to the group
Willingness to listen and be influenced by colleagues
Commitment to each other’s professional growth and success
Social support

12. Psychological Adjustment and Competence
Individualistic attitudes are related to a number of indices of pathological psychology.
Basic self-rejection
Egocentrism
Competitiveness is related to a mixture of healthy and unhealthy characteristics.
Conditional self-esteem
Cooperativeness is positively related to
Emotional maturity
Well-adjusted social relations
Strong personal identity
Ability to cope with adversity
Social competencies
Basic trust and optimism about people
Self-confidence, independence and autonomy
High self-esteem
Increased perspective taking skills

14. Under What Conditions are Competitive Efforts Effective?
Broader context is cooperative
Between groups (not individuals)
Task: nondivisible, well-practiced
Evenly matched competing teams
Winning is of no great importance

15. Under What Conditions Are Individualistic Efforts Effective?
Broader context is cooperative
Goal perceived as important, relevant, worthwhile
Individuals expect to be successful
Task is simple, achievable, clear

16. The Basic Elements of Cooperation
Positive interdependence – sink or swim together
Outcome interdependence
Mean interdependence
Individual accountability
Promotive interaction
Social skills
Group processing

17. Development of Cooperative Relationships
Durable and frequent interactions – more at stake in the future than in the present
Recognition ability
Emotional investment in the other group members
Tit-for-tat strategy
Avoiding the temptation to exploit other group members’ cooperation

18. Distribution of Rewards
Equity/merit view – Homans (1961)
Equality system of distributive justice
According to need
When the method of distribution is not perceived as just by all group members  low morale, high conflict

19. Social Interdependence and the Real World
All three types of interdependence exist simultaneously and continuously.
When a competitive person joins a cooperative group
Interaction pattern among group members becomes competitive
Newcomer is not aware of the change, only the group members

20. Deutsch’s Definition of Trust
An aspect of relationship  Dynamic
To trust someone always involves risk
The consequences of trusting can be
beneficial or
harmful
depending on the actions of the other person!
The feared harmful consequences (the possible loss) are more severe than the hoped beneficial outcomes (the possible gain)
If you trust, you feel relatively confident that beneficial consequences will result

21. The Dynamics of Interpersonal Trust
Person B
High acceptance, support
Low acceptance, support and cooperativeness
High Openness and Sharing
Person A
Trusting
Confirmed
Disconfirmed
Person B
Trustworthy
Untrustworthy
No risk
Low Openness and Sharing
Distrusting
Person A

22. Trusting and Trustworthiness
Willing to risk beneficial or harmful consequences by making oneself vulnerable to other people
Openness
Sharing
Support
Acceptance
Trustworthiness
Willingness to respond to another person’s risk taking in a way that the other person will experience beneficial consequences
Accepting and supporting ≠ agreeing

23. Destroying Trust
Just one betrayal is enough to destroy trust, BUT
Distrust is extremely resistant to change
3 types of behavior that will decrease trust:
Rejection, ridicule or disrespect as a response to the other person’s disclosure
Not reciprocating openness
Refusing to disclose your thoughts after the other person expressed acceptance, support and cooperative intentions

24. How Can I Reestablish Trust That Was Lost?
Establish superordinate goals – goals that are compelling and can only be achieved by cooperation
Increase resource interdependence
Express cooperative intentions
Always keep your word
Be absolutely and consistently trustworthy
“Test the waters” – make yourself vulnerable to the other person
Apologize sincerely
Build a tough but fair reputation

25. Trusting As A Personality Trait
Though trust is a quality of the relationship, not that of the person, some people are more willing to trust than others.
Interpersonal Trust Scale – Rotter (1971)
High trusters are
More trustworthy
More likely to give others a 2nd chance, to be liked and sought out as friends
Less likely to lie and be unhappy, conflicted or maladjusted

26. Summary Positive – cooperation Negative – competition
Independence (individual work)
Interdependence structured in the situation
Positive – cooperation
Negative – competition
Cooperation
Positive interdependence
Individual accountability
Face-to-face promotive interaction
Social skills
Group processing