Group Cohesiveness

The Dimensionality of Group Cohesiveness

Group cohesiveness has always been at least implicitly associated with a greater willingness of group members to exert themselves on behalf of the group [Page 285]and therefore with increased group productivity and performance. Some issues complicate our understanding of the concept of group cohesiveness and its consequences, however.

A first issue is the measurement of group cohesiveness. The concept of group cohesiveness refers to the forces that bind individuals to the group or the attraction of group members to the group. The most common way to measure group cohesiveness, however, is to measure individual group members' attraction to other group members (i.e., rather than to the group). Interpersonal attraction may be an aspect of group cohesiveness, but it is not the only aspect of group cohesiveness and might not be the most important one. Indeed, the definition of group cohesiveness suggests that attraction to the group as a whole (i.e., rather than to individual members) is more central to the concept. Many studies of group cohesiveness may thus fail to capture important aspects of the concept.

A second issue follows from the first. Many researchers and practitioners alike tend to think of group cohesiveness as a one-dimensional construct, that is, a concept reflected in a single characteristic of the group. Theoretical considerations as well as a review of measurement practices suggest, however, that it may make more sense to think of group cohesiveness as a multidimensional construct—in other words, as a concept reflecting different aspects of the group. Interpersonal attraction between group members may be one of these aspects but not the only one. A second important aspect of group cohesiveness is cohesiveness as it flows from attraction to the group's goals and mission and commitment to the group's task. That is, group members may be attracted to the group because they value what the group is trying to achieve. A third aspect that may be important in the group's attraction on its members is the value to group members of being a member in the group, per se. Part of a group's attractiveness may flow from the group's prestige or from other factors that may render members proud of their membership in the group. As Mullen and Copper's (1994) review of the literature shows, these three aspects are represented in different studies of group cohesiveness, and the relationship between these different aspects is small enough to see them as separate aspects of group cohesiveness. Moreover, these different aspects are differently related to group performance.

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