PSY400 Group Influence Paper 5 4 2015

Group Influence
Myra Cheung
PSY400
May 4, 2015
Instructor Carla Kuhlman

Part I
1. “How were the people arranged in the physical environment (layout of room and seating arrangement)?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The meeting was held in the living room of one of the board members of the Family Readiness Group for the military command. The environment of the location that the meeting was being held was inviting and warm and there were no particular seating arrangements for the group members. A light dinner and libations were provided for everyone to enjoy before the start of the meeting.
2. “What is the composition of the group, in terms of number of people, ages, sex, ethnicity, etc.?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
There were six board members who were present for the meeting. The composition of the group was diverse in age and ethnicity but predominately all women. Some of the board members was accompanied with their children who varied in age and gender.
3. “What are the group purpose, mission, and goals?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The purpose of the Family Readiness Group is to help build morale of sailors and their family; volunteer board members help plan and coordinate informative meeting for the families of the sailors, care taking, social activities, and activities to enhance preparedness. The Family Readiness Group is also known as the FRG. The FRG mission is to prepare family members for their sailor deployment and homecoming, provide support to family members during deployment, and “help families adjust to challenges” and lend “support in” the time of crisis (Navy FRG Handbook, 2011). The FRG welcomes and mentors sailors and their family who are new to the military lifestyle.
4. “What is the duration of the group (short, long-term)? Explain” (UOP PSY400, 2015).
The duration of the board meeting took approximately an hour and a half discussing matters of upcoming social activities and addressing the concerns of sailor’s family, command, and board members. Meeting are short-term and are scheduled once a month during the months of deployment.
5. “Did the group structure its discussion around an agenda, program, rules of order, etc.?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The FRG board meeting agenda went in an order according to an itinerary that was handed out to every member. First order of business was to address the responsible duties of the upcoming social for the families and delegating out those responsibilities. The last order of business was to discuss the concerns of some family members and some OPSEC questions from the upper command.
6. “Describe the structure of the group. How is the group organized?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The meeting started with the president of the command FRG saying the meeting is now in session and reading the minutes from the last meeting that need to be followed up. Afterwards the president read the itinerary of order of business of what the meeting focus. Every board member freely gave their opinion or suggestions to hopes that their ides or suggestions would be considered for the upcoming social event. The FRG president did a wonderful job keeping everyone engaged by being less formal during the meeting by using her humorous personality.
7. “Who are the primary facilitators of the group?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The facilitator was the FRG president acting in the command XO spouse place for this month board meeting. Primarily the facilitator usually would be the command XO spouse.
8. “What subject or issues did the group members examine during the meeting?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The board members had to examine the duties of the upcoming social event for the upcoming holiday. The issues that had to be examine were part of OPSEC so unfortunately that information cannot be publicly recorded. OPSEC is an acronym for Operation Security for the military. The issue had to do with someone breaking that OPSEC policy.
9. “What types of information did members exchange in their group?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
The information that was exchanged during the meeting was in regards to the social event for the celebration of the upcoming holiday and current concerns with the violations of OPSEC. There was some brief exchange of intimate conversation about each other family and day to day life as being the spouse left at home taking care of the home front while everyone sailor is deployed out to sea. The group of women seem pretty close and comfortable with one another.
10. “What were the group's norms, roles, status hierarchy, or communication patterns?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
I believe the group norm was that every board member engaged and embraced each other with in intimate conversation to make sure everyone was mentally and emotionally well while their sailors are deployed. Having light dinner and libations for the board members and their children helped spare a night of cooking at home excluding the host of the board meeting for the month. Once the meeting was in session the board members knew it was the start of business while the older children keep the younger kids busy playing games or watching a age appropriate movie. Since everyone had the same thing in common interruptions by the children was understood by everyone. If anyone missed anything while attending to their child needs, they can follow up by reading the secretary minutes on the meeting during that interval.
11. “What communication patterns illustrated if the group was unified or fragmented? Explain.” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
There were points during the conversation in regards to the delegation of duties and ideas that the talks went a little off topic for a couple minutes when someone had a sudden memory of something that she had a question about an off topic matter and she did not want to forget to ask. The main topic of the meeting gained ground again after a few minutes of deliberation of the off topic matter. After the duties of the social event were handed out, everyone was asked if they had any ideas or suggestions about the location the event should be held keeping in mind the weather; and the date and time frame the event should be set for. Everyone agreed on securing a central location and agreed to set the social event for the Sunday before Memorial Day weekend.
12. “Did the members share a sense of identity with one another (characteristics of the group-similarities, interests, philosophy, etc.)? “(UOP PSY400, 2015)
I feel that the members of the board were able to identify with each other because of the common situation being home front supporters while their sailor is deployed. Some of the board members experience similar single parenting issues, anxiety, insomnia, and stress related factors that comes with supporting the home front while their sailor is deployed. The common grounds that the board members have with each other seems to make them comfortable with one another, which allowed each person to feel safe and unjudged about opening up about their feelings.
13. “Was there any indication that members might be vulnerable to Groupthink? Why or why not?” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
During the board meeting, the members did not show any indication of vulnerability to Groupthink. The board members seem to work toward a common goal, support one another while collaborating ideas and respected each other professionally and maintained a personable relationship related to being in the same circumstances.
14. “In your opinion, how did the collective group behaviors influence individual attitudes and the group's effectiveness? Provide your overall analysis.” (UOP PSY400, 2015)
Once the meeting was adjourned, everyone helped clean the host living area where the meeting was held and chatting with one another. The energy between the members and children was positive. The board members are also friends outside of their volunteer duties. The morale support they gave each other through their encouraging word and hugs; and the skills to be able to switch from professional to personable while respecting one another was inspiring and encouraging to me and a true learning experience.

Part II
Group Influence
This is an observation of the Family Readiness Group is to analyze of the dynamics between the individuals which will provide a clear comprehension of group influence. The observation will also provide a clear explanation of the relation to the research studies on the conformity, norms and social influence. While observing the group in a social environment from a primitive origin, the related research will be observed and studied on the subject from a secondary origin. The observation of this examination will provide a comprehension of the social influences on the group dynamic and the individual. The determination of a reliable conclusion will be based on the information collected from the observation of the interactive group comparison to the study.
The group environment in a social interaction consist of two or more individuals. “Groups have the power to influence the perspectives of individuals in social events” (Myers, 2010). The influence that a group can have on individuals goes far beyond the growth of a relationship. The attitude and behavior of the individual is reliant on the group dynamics and effect the other members subconsciously. The social interaction ultimately impact each individual in the group and the success of the group. The Family Readiness is an organization of volunteers that take on the role of being the social and informative group for sailor’s spouses and their children. Family Readiness Group is also known as the abbreviated acronym of FRG. The Family Readiness Group organization provides morale and support to the sailors, sailors spouse and their children during the time of deployment. The command Family Readiness Group welcome and mentor sailors and their family who may be new to the military lifestyle. The Family Readiness Group coordinate fun social events and holiday celebrations as well as prepare sailors family members for their sailor homecoming. The Family Readiness Group lends a helping hand and support to family members during challenging times whether it is personal, unit or area crisis. “Lasting friendships, the satisfaction of helping others and a sense of pride are all positive results of belonging to a strong Family Readiness Group” (Navy FRG Handbook, 2011).
There was an observation of the social interaction between the members of the group during the session of the board meeting. The board members of the group appeared to be a resilient in their social contribution of the Family Readiness Group. The board members worked on a set itinerary towards a common goal for the board meeting. In the session of the meeting was address the duties and responsibility of the upcoming social event for the service member’s families, and securing a location, time and date for the event; as well as address the questions and concerns regarding recent OPSEC violations. There were no specific seating arrangement which allowed the board members to make a decision to select a seat next to another member that may or may not have any influence on them during the meeting. During the meeting the social influence and the energy in the room is set by the Family Readiness Group President which she appear to have set the tone with her relaxed and humorous character. The relaxed and humorous character of the Family Readiness Group President seem to comfort the other board members which relaxed them and made it okay to be their professional and friendly selves. “The impact of this interaction can be positive or negative depending on the ultimate goals of those exterior influences and generally does influence the future behaviors of the individuals” (Myers, 2010). The goal of impacting the positive interaction was set by the influential factor of the Board President with her relaxed charisma and humorous tone.
The board meeting consist of six volunteers members; all of the board members who attended the meeting were are women. A couple of the ladies were accompanied with one under aged child each and the other board members did not. Each board member either had experience in volunteering to be a board member once before while for others it was their first time. Everyone had grabbed a plate of food and a libation while the host settled the children down in the playroom with games and a movie to entertain themselves before taking a seat in the living area where the board meeting was held. As everyone entered the living area to take a seat, the Board President and the host greeted everyone hello and asked how is everyone doing? Although, all the board members replied with an answer of doing well, the inexperienced board members tone of their reply was a little stiff and unease due to the nervousness they were experiencing. The Board President seem to have eased the nerves of the two unexperienced board members by being relaxed and telling a quick side joke about a piece of the reading of the prior meeting minutes. The seating was arranged with one comfortable dining chairs facing in an angle towards the couch and the L shaped couch remaining in its original place which seat five people. The dining chair was placed area of the meeting because there was one board member who needed more space than a seat on the L shaped couch could provide due to being claustrophobia. Everyone sat in no particular arrangement but felt warm, welcomed and comfortable.
The board meeting was called to session by the volunteer Family Readiness Group President Christine and she began with the reading of the minutes of last month meeting. After the minutes from last month meeting was read, Christine read the itinerary of this meeting. The main topic was to address the most recent violations of OPSEC which is the military Operational Security policy. Due to the high risk of OPSEC I cannot report the exact violation that took place in my observation. Even with the subject being such an extremely importance, the board members seem to be comfortable with briefly joking about the matter and quickly conceded with course of action to correct the violation. The Board President asked for volunteers of the board members to take responsibility of organizing the upcoming holiday social even. A couple members volunteered to be the event organizers without hesitation. The next question that was asked of everyone was for suggestions of a central location for event to be held, date and time. Everyone group member was comfortable about exchanging their ideas and suggestions about the topics on the meeting agenda.
“Groupthink is the psychology term that relates the group’s desire a united perspective and often does so by the group member’s submission to the group ideal land of conforming to those beliefs” (Friedkin, 2001). Individuals in a group are subject to rationalization and stereotyped views; the group will also be influenced by the pressure of conformity, self-censorship, mindguards, and illusion of unanimity. Groupthink can create closed mindedness which produce a failure to search and discuss conflicting information and potential alternatives. “These results highlight how the imagined audience influences the individual as he or she went about his or her role preparation processes” (Schulz, 2015). The board members were patient with one another and did not over speak the other members during the discussions. There were no symptoms of Groupthink displayed from any of the board members of the group.
“The definition of conformity is the altering or assuming behaviors and attitudes that are beneficial to fit with the social norms in a group or social environment” (Friedkin, 2001). While observing the social norm of the group, the respect and compliance to OPSEC policies by not speaking of the information outside the board meeting, there was no display of conformity among the board members. “Some studies show how interpersonal bonds and relationship can build the emotional state of an individual” (Friedkin, 2001). The ideal and purpose of the Family Readiness board is to have fun and draw strength from loving individuals in the same position. “Lasting friendships, the satisfaction of helping others and a sense of pride are all positive results of belonging to a strong Family Readiness Group” (Navy FRG Handbook, 2011).
The “Family Readiness Group” (Navy FRG Handbook, 2011) dynamics between the Board members provided clarity and understanding of the group influence. While observing the group in a social environment, the board members attitude and behavior by the board President laid back and humorous character and the soft tone she carried when she spoke.

Reference
Friedkin, N. (2001). Norm Formation in Social Influence Networks. Science Direct. 23 (3), 167-189.
Myers, D. G., (2010). Social psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Schulz, H.M., (2015),"Reference group influence in consumer role rehearsal narratives",
Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 18 Issue 2 pp. 210 – 229.
Navy FRG Handbook. pdf. (2011). Nature of FRG. U.S Navy Family Readiness Groups
Handbook. OPNAVINST 1754.5B Readiness Groups. Section 4.aPp 4. Retrieved from http://www.nsfamilyline.org/publications/NavyFRGHandbook.pdf University of Phoenix PSY400. (2015). Group Influence Questions for Group Influence Assignment Paper for Week 4. Retrieved from https://newclassroom3.phoenix.edu/Classroom/#/contextid/OSIRIS:48615890/context/co/view/activityDetails/activity/18d06f86-83dc-481a-ab64-767c4692b737/expanded/False/tab/Instructions