Group Influence Portfolio

Group Influence Portfolio

PSY/400

June 23, 2014

Leah Reagan

Group Influence

Human beings are social by nature. We depend on and crave interaction with others. Through the group experience, individuals find a purpose as a member of a like-minded community as well as helping the greater cause of the community. A group exists when two or more people interact for more than a few moments, affect one another in some way, and think of themselves as “us” (Myers, 2010).  Social psychology strives to understand the relationship and bonds that are formed in a group setting and how they relate to an individual’s behavior. Group influence is seen in every aspect of life, positive or negative, and is a reflection of group norms and conformity.

Focus Group

I attended a meeting of a focus group at my daughter’s high school. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together individuals from different departments within the school district as well as parents to explain the goals and achievements of the school’s AVID program. AVID is a nationwide program that runs from middle school through high school that focus on preparing a student to enter a four year university after graduation. AVID stands for Advancement via Individual Determination. It is an elective class where students get the opportunity to research colleges, discover what they might want to major in, apply for scholarships, and learn the college application process. Since my daughter was a graduating senior who had been in AVID since eighth grade, I was asked to attend and speak about what the program has done for our family. Also in attendance were AVID teachers, the school principal, a school counselor, a representative from the county school board, members of the local school board, AVID students, and other parents.

Meeting Observations

        The meeting was held in a high school classroom. The desks had been arranged in a circle, so we sat facing each other. Breakfast and beverages were available to enjoy before the meeting started. There were approximately 15 people in attendance. Ages ranged from teens to senior citizens. There were both men and women, but men were in the majority. Ethnicities represented were White and Hispanic. The group’s purpose was to present an all-encompassing vision of the AVID program at this particular school which included breakdowns of the programs growth and plans as to how to reach its current goals. The duration of this particular group would be classified as short term. However, the subgroups that this group is comprised of, such as the teachers, would be considered a long-term group. The group did structure around a presentation that was delivered via PowerPoint and individual binders. These provided information explaining how the program functions and furnished graphs that showed growth and projected growth by each grade, class, and student gender.  The primary facilitator of the group was the high school’s AVID coordinator. She heads the program and is also an AVID teacher. During the meeting, topics such as growth, goals, funding, and recruitment were discussed. Group members discussed the positive aspects of the program, ideas to improve participation particularly with boys, and ways to generate funding. This group was made up of various subgroups. These subgroups included parents, students, teachers, and school board members. Group norms were followed, such as taking turns talking and listening when someone else was talking. Communication patterns followed the agenda and ensured each person got the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences pertaining to the program. Communication patterns illustrated that the group was unified. Communication flowed well and stayed on topic. The members did share a sense of identity with one another. Each member, despite their different subgroup, was there for a common purpose, which was to discuss the AVID program and their thoughts of it. Each member had a common interest and philosophy even though we each played a different role. There was no indication that members might be vulnerable to Groupthink. Members spoke up when they had something to add and tended to have their own opinion or experience to share instead of keeping quiet and going along with what was being said. In my opinion, the collective group behavior influenced individual attitudes and the group effectiveness by providing a professional, but relaxed atmosphere in which discussion could be productive and honest.