INDIVIDUAL AND GROUPS – SUMMARY NOTES

SYLLABUS: NOTES:
Groups in the There are a variety of groups that allow us to achieve goals, realise potentials and
community enhance our wellbeing.

Types of groups:
- Family and friendship
o Family = primary group – based on ancestry
o Friendship = secondary group – people associate by choice
- Sporting and leisure
o Sporting = based on the common sport that the group plays
o Leisure = based on common activities that the group does
- Study and work
o Study = based on the common goal of learning for the group
o Work = formed based on the members’ workplace
- Religious
o Exists within all communities, certain religions will be more prevalent
based on the area
- Cultural
o How one lives their life daily and how their life takes shape
(nationality, ethnicity, family morals, etc)
- Other specific groups

Reason for group formation:

- Locality/geography
- Gender
- Shared interest/common goal
- Security
- Sexuality
- Specific need
- Social interaction
- Culture
- Religion
- Other (biology, etc)

Exam preparation:
For this syllabus point, the only things they can really ask is to explore various types
of groups in the community and explain why each group has formed.

In order to answer this question, you must identify which type of group the group is and
at least 2 reasons why they formed.
e.g.
- The Plastics – a friendship group, group formed due to gender and social
interaction
- The Mathletes – a study group, group formed due to shared interest and
locality
- The Varsity Football Team – a sporting group, formed due to common goal
and gender
Roles individuals A role is defined as being a set of responsibilities a person takes on, depending on
adopt within their position or title. People in groups will undertake certain specific responsibilities
groups that are based on their involvement in the group.

The specific roles adopted by individuals in groups:

- To ensure tasks are achieved – Achievers
o Involves making sure the group completes all the tasks it has started
o To ensure that the tasks are achieved, a group member must
oversee the contributions made by individuals and subgroups
 o To do so, the group member(s) in charge should make goals,
timeframes, checkpoints, etc at the beginning and should
continuously track them to monitor progress.
- To maintain/build relationships – Socioemotional
o Involves developing trust and support for the group members but
also between the group and other organisations
o Is essential to any group to ensure a long lasting relationship
o For a group to grow, someone has to be building relationships with
other groups and organisations
- To influence the group’s progress – Destructors
o Very important because it will be the determining factor in what
trends are occurring and why they are occurring
o In order for this member to continue to work and grow, it needs the
other group members to encourage them on
Personal factors:
- Self-esteem
o The self-perception and set worth of an individual. Low self-esteem
= limited contributions
- Self-confidence
o The more confidence the more they will take the lead. Affects
group’s progress and goals.
- Sense of belonging
o When an individual identifies with a group, they feel validated. This
increases the completion of tasks and better decisions.
- Education
o Level of education will affect who takes on the task orientated role.
- Heredity
o Physical attributes/nature that are passed down.
- Previous experience
o Lessons learned from a previous experience shape who we are and
the wat we interact.
- Culture
o Culture can create awareness and understanding of others’ values
and beliefs. Creates group cohesion.
Social factors:
- Relationship with group members
- Attitudes of group members, e.g. peer acceptance
- Gender expectations
- Media

Norms, conformity, and cohesiveness within and among groups:

Norms are the group’s standards in relation to its behaviour and functioning. The
norms can either be formal or informal.

- Formal
o The norms a governing body has defined and are usually in written
form
- Informal
o The norms in which group members come to a mutual agreement
about something

Conformity means the way in which the group members follow the norms. This is
essential for a group to effectively function.

Cohesiveness means how strong a group’s bond is and how satisfy they are within
the group. This is important in creating a group which is efficient and can achieve
the goal.
 Exam Preparation:
There is not much in this syllabus point to make a question purely on it, however,
there will be times where you may need to integrate this into an answer.

Syllabus questions:
- Compare the specific roles various individuals adopt within a range of
groups (would specify which group)
- Determine the specific roles that can be adopted into groups and propose
how and why their roles may vary
- Explore how individuals can influence a group’s progress and discuss the
impact this can have on group cohesiveness
e.g.:
- In Mean Girls, you can use Damian, Janice, and Cady
o Janice = achiever – made the plan + checklist and makes sure that
everyone was on track
o Damian = socioemotional – ensures that both Cady and Janice are
okay, does all the tasks that are embarrassing and taxing
o Cady = destructor – the one who does acts out the plan, constantly
needs to be grounded and encouraged by the other two

Power within Assumption of power in groups is inevitable. Whether the group members have
groups equal levels of power or staggered levels of power, power always exists.

Power bases:
The term ‘power base’ means where the power in the group lies, that is, who is in
control or who the leader is.

- Legitimate
o Draws on the idea that a person has a right to make demands and
have expectations of others to follow their rules.
o Examples: Prime Minister, Elected leaders (school captains, etc)
- Reward
o Stems from a person’s ability to reward others for following the rules
or directions.
o Example: teachers, parents
- Coercive
o Drawn from a leader’s ability to instate or remove power and rights.
o Example: parents, The Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
- Referent
o The power an individual has over groups or followers based on a
high level of identification. Common amongst all types of leaders.
o Examples: Kylie Jenner, Emma Watson
- Expert
o Based upon the knowledge or expertise of an individual in a given
field.
o Examples: medical experts, principals

Leadership:
The term ‘leadership’ means the guidance and direction a person gives other
people in order to complete a common task or reach a common goal.

- Self-leadership
o Means leading oneself to reach personal goals.
- Autocratic (Leadership style)
o Are characterised by being dictatorial and authoritarian.
o Generally, task oriented and command their fellow group members
to follow orders.
- Democratic (Leadership style)
 o Are characterised based on sharing.
o Ultimately makes the decisions, but allows fellow group members to
provide input into decision making.
- Transformational (Leadership style)
o Are characterised by being compassionate and motivated.
o Generally, promotes and inspires positive growth among the group.
- Laissez-faire (Leadership style)
o Are characterised by being relaxed and laid back.
o Generally, have limited control over the group and must be highly
motivated to complete the task.

Leadership adaptability and flexibility:

The term means that the leader is able to be versatile and to quickly change plans
or ideas according to factors that are often out of their control.

Factors influencing leadership:

If a leader is influenced by any factor, it could change their leadership style.

- Type of task
- Knowledge and skills within the group
- Attitudes of individuals within the group
- Relationship between group members

Exam Preparation:
Since this syllabus point has a lot of content, there is almost no doubt that there will
be a question that is directly about this point or links this in with one of the others.

You will most likely have to connect most of these points when answering the
question, like power base  leadership style  factors that influenced the leader.
However, that depends on what the question actually asks you do.

Syllabus questions:
- Evaluate the impact of power bases used by individuals in a range of
groups.
- Assess the role of self-leadership in contributing to positive interpersonal
relationships and task achievement.
- Compare styles of leadership and assess the effectiveness of each in a
variety of situations.
- Justify the importance of leadership adaptability by examining how each
factor can influence different styles of leadership.
E.g.:
- In Mean Girls, you could use any leader, such as Regina, Cady, and Ms Norbury, to
answer any of the questions.
- Just remember that self-leadership is the monitoring of goals and implementing
skills and knowledge that the individual has to complete the task or reach the goal
more efficiently. This contributes positively as the individual is more aware of
themselves and their skills, which could encourage them to push themselves.
Conflict within Conflict is a disagreement between individuals or groups based on a clash of ideas,
groups principles, beliefs or people.

Managing conflict:
Conflict is an inevitable part of life. Usually, conflict has negative impacts on the
wellbeing of an individual or group.

Poorly Handled/unresolved conflict:

- Increased stress and anxiety
- Decreased productivity and satisfaction
- Feelings of being defeated = lower motivation
- Higher levels of passive aggressiveness = negative impact on cohesiveness
- A climate of mistrust = hindered teamwork and cooperation
Effectively handled/resolved conflict:
- Increased participation and creativity
- Surfacing of assumptions that may be inaccurate
- Better communication = increased cohesiveness
- Consideration of a broader range of ideas = stronger ideas

Causes of conflict:
- Incompatible goals
o Means that group members’ goals cannot coexist as they may be
conflicting or contradictory.
o Lead to conflict due to differing goals, therefore both parties cannot
be satisfied without compromises.
- Individual differences/personalities
o Means in what way individuals are unique and stand out from the
people around them.
o In relation to conflict, this is associated with differentiation among
individual characters, which is a cause of conflict as they may clash
due to personality, behaviours, etc.
- Limited resources
o ‘Resources’ means the things that groups and individuals have either
internally (talents, skills, knowledge, etc) or externally (money,
technology, space, etc)
o Conflict can often arise when resources are limited, which can lead
to irritation with themselves or the group.
- Ineffective communication
o ‘Communication’ is related to the way in which all individuals interact
with others.
o Communication can be either verbal or non-verbal.
o Conflict can arise due to culture/language barriers, misunderstood
humour, tone, body language, etc.
- Varying values
o Values are the qualities people have that influence what they do and
how they do it.
o Varying values = the many principals and standards that people
have.
o Conflict can easily arise when values differ as values are usually
deeply linked with an individual’s actions and behaviours.
o They help the individual make their own identity.
- Multiple role expectations
o What are expected of a person, a group, or a subgroup according to
the person’s or people’s involvement in a group.
o Conflict can arise when a person fails to meet the expectations of
their role in the groups that they identify with, causing anger,
frustrations and irritations with the group.

Exam Preparation:
NOTE: this will not show up in the short answers for task 2 as this is the long
response syllabus point.
This point is probably the most important one for any exam.

When answering any question that has any implication of conflict, always make
sure to at least identify the cause of conflict. Often there is many causes of conflict,
so determine how many to talk about by using how much the question is worth as a
guide (e.g. 5-marker = 2 causes, 6-marker = 2-3 causes, etc).

Syllabus questions:
- explore conflict within groups by collecting and recording data from existing
case studies
- analyse the impact conflict has on groups by:
 o identifying examples of group conflict
o recognising the causes of the conflict
o analysing the extent of the impact on wellbeing
E.g.:
- In Mean Girls, the whole movie is basically just a conflicts. However, for the
exam, the best ones to use are:
o Cady x Regina = ineffective communication (lying)
o Cady x Damian and Janice = multiple role expectations (Cady being
plastic) and varying values
o Cady x Heron family = ineffective communication (house party)

Conflict Conflict resolution is the process that two or more parties may use to settle a
resolution dispute and/or find a solution to a problem. It may involve negotiation and
compromise to meet the needs of each party.

Process:
Conflict resolution comprises a range of processes where the focus is on lessening
the sources of the conflict. The most common processes are negotiation,
mediation, agreement, and resolution.

- Negotiation
o Discuss the conflict and cooperate with each other to come to an
agreement or settlement in relation to the conflict.
- Mediation
- Agreement
o When the parties reach an agreement, they settle the conflict or
agree to arrange a way to manage or minimise the conflict.
- Resolution
o The term ‘resolution’ means the outcome of the implemented
agreement.

Role of support people:

Parties who are in conflict can access people who are trained in diffusing and
resolving it, and those people are called mediators and advocates.

- Mediator
o Someone who handles conflict and diffuse the situation for both
parties.
o Should be unbiased as they need to understand bith sides of the
conflict.
- Advocate
o Someone who is the representative of a person, group, or cause.

Both mediators and advocates should ensure that both parties in the conflict feel
they have been treated fairly. They should then take steps to come to a
compromise, which allows both parties to feel satisfied with the outcome.

Outcomes of conflict resolution:

Three main outcomes:
- Win-win.
o The ideal outcome and occurs when all the parties are satisfied with
the resolution of the conflict.
- Win- lose.
o When one or more of the parties is satisfied whereas one or more of
them is discontent.
o Most common.
- Lose – lose.
o Occurs when all the parties are dissatisfied with the outcome.
Exam Preparation:
Conflict resolution is a major syllabus point as all of the syllabus questions are more
geared for long responses (at least a 6 marker).

Syllabus questions:
- Propose reasons why conflict resolution has different outcomes for various
groups and determine the impact on group wellbeing.
- Investigate a current conflict between 2 (two) groups in the community and
evaluate the extent to which support people can assist in conflict resolution.

This is also extremely relevant to Mean Girls, as at the end almost all the conflict
has been resolved. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was in task 2 as one of the hidden
questions.

For this dot point, you can use the plastics as your main example (if you need to
compare, you can use Cady x Ms Norbury or Cady x Aaron)
E.g.:
- Plastics & Cady x Ms Norbury = plastics had a very sudden and messy
conflict, with no negotiation. Whilst, Cady x Ms Norbury resolved their
conflict with a negotiation (Ms forgiving her if she joined the Mathletes).