Group cohesiveness refers to the ability of group members to think and act as one, whether physically together or not. It develops from a sense of belonging, attraction to other members, and commitment to working together to achieve shared goals. Factors that contribute to cohesiveness include threats to the group, difficulty entering the group, time spent together, smaller group size, past successes, and similarity of attitudes and values among members. Higher cohesiveness is generally associated with higher performance and productivity up to a moderate level, beyond which it can decrease performance. Ways to increase cohesiveness include agreeing on goals, increasing homogeneity, interactions, competition, and rewarding the group, while decreasing it involves disagreeing on goals,

1. 
GROUP COHESSIVENESS
PRESENTED BY,
JENY THOMAS
MAYURI S J

2. What is group cohesiveness?
 Group cohesiveness is the ability to think and act 'as one' if the
group is physically together or not.
 According to Stephen P Robbins, “Group cohesiveness is the
degree to which members are attracted to each other and are
motivated to stay in the group.”

3. Dimensions of group cohesiveness
 Group Unity
 Attraction
 Team work

4. Group unity
 Many theorists believe that group cohesion results from
a deep sense of “we-ness” or belonging to a group as a
whole.
 By becoming enthusiastically involved in the efforts of
their group and by recognizing the similarities that exist
among group members, individuals tend to develop a
close connection with their group and its members.

5. Attraction
 According to Hogg (1992), group cohesiveness
typically develops from a depersonalized attraction
to group members based on their status as group
members, rather than a personal attraction based
on specific relationships.

6. Team work
 Some theorists stress that cohesion comes from
group members’ commitment to work together to
complete their shared tasks and accomplish their
collective goals.
 Members of task-oriented groups typically exhibit
great interdependence and often possess feelings
of responsibility for the group’s outcomes.

7. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO GROUP COHESIVENESS
Threat & Difficulty in
Competition Entry
Time Together Group Size
COHESION
Previous Similarities of
Successes attitudes and
values

8. 1. Threat & Competition
 Whenever the common group goal is
threatened, cohesiveness increases.
 Also, such cohesiveness increases the importance of the
goals.
 When we fight for a goal, the goal gets the highest priority.
 Thus the threatening party will have less chance of success
when faced with a unified force.

9. 2. Difficulty in Entry
 Some groups are not easy to join. The members are
very carefully selected and the selected members feels a
sense of pride and accomplishment.
 The more difficult it is to get into a group, the more
cohesive that group becomes.
 The reason being that in exclusive and elite groups the
members are selected on the basis of certain
characteristics and these characteristics being common
to all add to the degree of liking and attraction towards
each other.

10. 3. Time Together
 It is quite natural that the more time people spend
together, the more they will get to know each other and
more tendency there will be to get closer to each
other, thus strengthening the degree of cohesiveness.
 In an organizational setting, people who work near each
other are more likely to spend more time together.

11. 4. Group Size
 Since continuous and close interaction among
members is a fundamental necessity for
cohesiveness, it would be natural to assume that
large groups restrict the extent of communication
and interaction with each other, thus resulting in
reduction of degree of cohesiveness.

12. 5. Previous Success
 When a group achieves a meaningful goal, the
cohesiveness of the group increases because the success
is shared by all the members and each one feels
responsible for the achievement.
 For example, when a sports team wins an important
game, every one in the team congratulates every other
member of the team for this success.

13. 6. Similarity of Attitudes & Values
 One of the strongest source of group cohesiveness
is the similarity in values, morals, beliefs and code
of conduct.
 We enjoy the company of others who hold similar
opinions and characteristics as ourselves.

14. Relationship b/w Group
Cohesiveness, Performance norms and
Productivity
Moderate
HIGH High productivity
productivity
 PERFORMANCE NORMS
LOW Moderate to low
Low productivity
productivity
low high
Cohesiveness

15. HOW TO INCREASE COHESSION?
 Induce agreement on group goals.
 Increase membership homogeneity.
 Increase interactions among members.
 Decrease group size.

16. Contd…
 Introduce competition with other groups.
 Allocate rewards to the group rather than
individuals.
 Provide physical isolation from other groups

17. HOW TO DECREASE COHESSION?
 Induce disagreement in group goals.
 Increase membership heterogeneity.
 Restrict interaction among members.
 Increase group size.

18. Contd…
 Allocate reward to individuals rather than to a
group as a whole.
 Remove physical isolation.
 Introduce a dominating member

19. BENEFITS
 Increased morale
 Increased productivity
 Improved communication
 Conformity and influences

20. Conclusion
 Group cohesion has been linked to a range of
positive and negative consequences.
 People in cohesive groups are confronted with
powerful pressures to conform to the group’s goals,
norms, and decisions.