Group Dynamics

Coming into Group Dynamics this semester I thought it was going to be a class where I did a lot of group projects with a big project at the end of the semester. I honestly did not realize how much I would learn about the inner workings of groups and how many different types of groups there are. Four concepts that have stuck out the most so far for me during this class are the different forms of groups (centralized, decentralized, and decentralized with aggregation), coordination within groups, play, and emotions are contagious. Groups can take on different forms and in chapter four of the book Wisdom of Crowds it talks about different groups being centralized, decentralized, and decentralized with aggregation. If a group is centralized, this can cause frustration from the other people; for example with my current job at Campus Security, Chief will tell us to
Since reading this chapter in the book Social Intelligence, I have begun to see this concept in work in my life. I have noticed that when I am talking to someone who is in a bad mood and they are complaining to me, I am beginning to be in a bad mood as well, no matter how great of a mood I am in. There are also cases when emotional contagion can be good, which is when someone who is in a great mood can pull you out of your bad mood. With how contagious emotions can be can affect a group and how they work together. My group this semester is really relaxed and for me I am stressed and want to get work done so I do not have to feel as stressed, but going into meetings most of my stress goes away because of the atmosphere the majority of the members create. As a DCE, especially working with middle schoolers, I have to be sure not to get caught up in all their mixed emotions, instead I need to be the one influencing their emotions which I feel will be hard because at that age they have such strong