1. Stewart L. Tubbs McGraw-Hill© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 C H A P T E R Relevant Background Factors

2. McGraw-Hill Slide 2 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Relevant Background Factors Explaining Why We Do What We Do Personality Gender Age Health Attitudes Values Review of the Systems Approach

3. McGraw-Hill Slide 3 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Explaining Why We Do What We Do Diversity: Groups in Conflict –All behavior occurs in some context. –Understanding cultural differences in behavior is critical, as the United States continues to become more and more diverse.

4. McGraw-Hill Slide 4 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Explaining Why We Do What We Do Diversity: Groups in Conflict –Hamden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000) have identified six dimensions that distinguish people. 1. Universalism-particularism 2. Individualism-communitarianism 3. Specificity-diffusion 4. Achieved status-ascribed status 5. Inner direction-outer direction 6. Sequential time-synchronous time

5. McGraw-Hill Slide 5 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Explaining Why We Do What We Do Diversity: Groups in Conflict (continued) –Behaving in specific ways is usually seen as an attempt by the individual to meet certain needs. –Probably one of the best-known models for explaining people’s needs is Maslow’s (1970) hierarchy of needs. Physiological needs Security needs Belongingness needs Esteem needs Self-actualization needs

6. McGraw-Hill Slide 6 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Explaining Why We Do What We Do Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy

7. McGraw-Hill Slide 7 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Personality FIRO-B –Schutz (1958, 1967, 1971) hypothesized that most people share three needs that groups help fulfill. Inclusion Control Affection

8. McGraw-Hill Slide 8 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Personality Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) –The theory is that we all possess personality traits in pairs of opposite characteristics. Extroversion (E) versus Introversion (I) Sensing (S) versus Intuition (N) Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F) Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)

9. McGraw-Hill Slide 9 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Personality Although personality is one of the most important background factors in small group communication, other factors are also involved. –Organismic factors or variables are those that are part of the organism.

10. McGraw-Hill Slide 10 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Gender Communication between the genders is both the most interesting and sometimes the most challenging of all types of communication. –Deborah Tannen’s (1995) excellent research has demonstrated that men and women talk differently in group situations. –Loden (1990) found that women approach teamwork and participatory management differently than do men.

11. McGraw-Hill Slide 11 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Age Communication patterns differ from childhood through adolescence to adulthood and old age. –Zenger and Lawrence (1989) found that age similarity of group members had a positive effect on the communication of information within project groups.

12. McGraw-Hill Slide 12 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Age Communication patterns... (continued) –Fullerton, Kerch, and Dodge (1996) found that age was a good predictor of a person’s ethics. As age increased, so did one’s ethical standards. –Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) found that “neoteny,” or perpetual enthusiasm for learning and for life, creates what they call “resonance.” Chronological age is probably much less important than psychological age when it comes to effectively working with others.

13. McGraw-Hill Slide 13 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Health Deficiencies in both physical and mental health of members seem to impede group performance.

14. McGraw-Hill Slide 14 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Attitudes Attitudes are defined as “predispositions towards action, about or toward people and things, evaluation of people, objects and ideas, and made up of emotional reactions, thoughts and beliefs, and action components. (www.ChangingMinds.org) They can be learned or genetic and are sometimes impossible to change.

15. McGraw-Hill Slide 15 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Attitudes –According to Triandis (1971), attitudes have three components: (1) a cognitive component; (2) an affective component; and (3) a behavioral component. –Some of the most intuitive yet provocative theories concerning attitudes are the so-called cognitive consistency theories. Balance Cognitive dissonance theory

16. McGraw-Hill Slide 16 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Attitudes

17. McGraw-Hill Slide 17 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Attitudes

18. McGraw-Hill Slide 18 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Values Attitudes and values are closely linked. Underwood (2003) states that matching attitudes result in cohesive values. Rokeach (1968, 1971, 1973) has argued that people’s values are also important as a predictor of behavior. –Values are seen as more fundamental than attitudes and are more stable and long lasting.

19. McGraw-Hill Slide 19 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Review of the Systems Approach— Practical Tips Tropman (1996) identifies several value differences that can influence group discussions. –Multipurpose versus unipurpose –Pragmatism versus excellence –Status versus class –Personal versus organizational purpose –Empirical versus qualitative decision-making bases –Disposable labor versus intimate concern

20. McGraw-Hill Slide 20 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Review of the Systems Approach Small group interactions are the result of influences that can be labeled inputs, throughputs, and outputs. Group norms, leadership style, and communication patterns all tend to influence the satisfaction level of group members. The three organismic factors discussed in this chapter were gender, age, and health.

21. McGraw-Hill Slide 21 © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Review of the Systems Approach— Practical Tips Promoting Diversity in the Virtual Space Step One: Introduction – Threaded Discussion Step Two: Self-Assessment Step Three: Discussion Step Four: Strategy Development