CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER ONE
One. The Foundations: Kurt Lewin and Field Theory
The study of group dynamics begins with Kurt Lewin, a psychologist who migrated from Nazi Germany to the United States and founded the Research Center for Group Dynamics at MIT.
Environment: Consists of the objective reality that surrounds a person.
Objective Environment: Reality that impinges on the person and may or may not evoke responses.
Psychological Environment: When the objective environment evokes a response, it becomes part of the person's subjective reality.
Field Theory: Asserts that if a person is to be understood, she must be seen in the light of how she views the world (subjective reality), not merely in terms of how the world really is (objective reality).
Field: Defined as the totality of coexisting facts that are conceived as mutually interdependent.
Life Space: A person's subjective reality, or her field. It is composed of three major regions:
- professional life
The Behavioral Formula: Behavior (B) is a function (f) of the interaction between the person (P) and her environment (E), expressed as B equals f(P, E).
Two. The Tension System and Valence
Two. The Tension System and Valence
Lewin's theory explains why people act the way they do based on internal and external forces.
Tension: A person is said to be in a state of tension within herself if an unsatisfied need or an unfulfilled intention exists.
Valence: A property that renders an object attractive or unattractive to the individual.
Positive Valence: Effects approach behavior (e.g., a hungry child attracted to chocolate).
Negative Valence: Elicits avoidance behavior (e.g., a barrier that causes frustration).
Object: Any element in the psychological environment that relieves a tension, such as a goal, an activity, or a candy.
Leaving the Field: When a person is sufficiently frustrated, they may ignore the goal and focus their attention elsewhere.