The Study of Groups by Josephine Klein

Author:Josephine Klein [Klein, Josephine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415862585
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2013-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

ASSUMPTION FOUR

Let the pressure of the environment increase.

The concept of the pressure of the external system provides explanations for a number of theoretical problems. Let us first take a very extreme case. If interaction and liking vary directly, so that when one increases the other increases also, why, we may ask, does this process ever stop, why don’t members go on liking each other better and better as they interact more and more? A simple answer would be that they are members of many groups and that they have to distribute their emotional energy between all the many people with whom they interact. There is a limit, one may assume, to the number of people one can love, and though this limit may differ for different people, it does exist. But let us aim at a self-denying ordinance and not explain social facts in terms of individual psychology unless we are driven to it.

A sociological explanation would have to take a different line. It has been stated that some interaction is necessary for the performance of the task. Sentiment also expresses itself in interaction, but it expresses itself more in interaction within the internal system. Whether or not a man has emotional limits, it is indisputable that within a given period of time only a limited amount of interaction can take place. If all the interaction occurs within the internal system, the task won’t get done. If the task is not done, the group (as we have defined it, with an aim that partly defines the group) will disappear. The external system therefore imposes its limits on activity in the internal system and thus limits the growth of friendship. How soon this limit is reached depends on the amount of interaction that the task requires and on the urgency of the task, i.e. the amount of interaction in the external system necessary for survival within a given period of time.

Next we must remember that a group does not have absolute control over its environment and the environment may at times exert such pressure on the group as to determine the type of task the group must deal with. When survival becomes an urgent problem, the energies of all members must be devoted to whatever task is necessary to survive. This means that interaction between members has to take place exclusively, or as nearly so as possible, in the task area,

i.e. in the external system. Therefore, there will be a reduction in interaction in the internal system. There will be no interaction except that which is directly necessary for the performance of the task. A group fighting for its survival will often find that the members are more involved in the group as a result. But unless a special function of ‘morale builder’ evolves, sooner or later a point comes at which the effects mentioned earlier in this chapter tend to diminish. Friendship needs to be maintained through interaction, and task-related interaction is less likely to give information concerning the personalities of members.

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