Group Cohesiveness

Definition

Group cohesiveness (or cohesion) is a social process that characterizes groups whose members interact with each other and refers to the forces that push group members closer together. A lot of work these days is accomplished in groups. Most people have had both good and bad experiences from participating in such group work. One important element that influences one's group work experience is cohesiveness. Cohesiveness has two dimensions: emotional (or personal) and task-related. The emotional aspect of cohesiveness, which was studied more often, is derived from the connection that members feel to other group members and to their group as a whole. That is, how much do members like to spend time with other group members? Do they look forward to the next group meeting? Task cohesiveness refers to the degree to which group members share group goals and work together to meet these goals. That is, is there a feeling that the group works smoothly as one unit, or do different people pull in different directions?

Group (or team) cohesiveness was studied extensively and has received a great deal of attention in the social sciences, as evidenced by the hundreds of articles published in the past 50 years in various domains, including sports, education, and work (a quick Google search revealed that there are more than 278,000 hits for “group cohesion” and nearly 120,000 hits for “group cohesiveness”).

Factors Influencing Group Cohesiveness

The forces that push group members together can be positive (group-based rewards) or negative (things lost upon leaving the group). The main factors that influence group cohesiveness are members' similarity, group size, entry difficulty, group success, and external competition and threats. Often, these factors work through enhancing the identification of the individual with the group he or she belongs to as well as the individual's beliefs of how the group can fulfill his or her personal needs.