Dr Eduardo Zulato CON.3.20 and Dr Miriam Tresh CON.3.14

This course is available on the BSc in Psychological and Behavioural Science. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

In any society and any successful organisation, understanding group dynamics and identity processes and how they are connected to the individual is an essential element. This understanding often provides a competitive advantage in managing organisations of all types. Thus, the dynamics within and between groups directly informs the ability of individuals to think, learn, and innovate together. This course provides students with a critical understanding of the different theories and practices associated with identity and group dynamics in organisational settings and beyond. 

This course aims to highlight how a better understanding of key social and organisational psychological concepts can contribute to understanding and managing the effectiveness of groups.

Examples of topics that will be covered include: Why group dynamics?; influence and power; identity and inclusion; collective behaviour; importance of groups on mental and physical health; performance and decision-making; diversity management; organisational change; group dynamics and the internet.

By the end of the course you should:

• Understand past and present theories of identity and group dynamics by introducing concepts used by social psychologists and behavioural scientists to understand and improve group behaviour.
• Be able to apply and critically evaluate how identity and group dynamics theories help us to explain and predict real-life experiences.
• Be able to demonstrate how understanding key social psychological and behavioural science concepts can contribute to understand the effectiveness of groups in various settings.

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and classes totalling a minimum of 25 hours across Winter Term. There is a reading week in Week 6 of Winter term.

Lectures will be delivered jointly with PB425, an MSc level course in the department. Classes will be specific for undergraduate students.

For each major and minor assessment option there is an equivalent piece of formative coursework. These are designed to help students to prepare for the summative assessments.

Formative coursework to support minor assessment

• Draft script for presentation
• Draft script for podcast
• Proposal for poster
• Proposal for visual media

Formative coursework to support major assessment

• Draft proposal for policy case study
• Outline of essay
• Draft parliamentary POSTnote and annotated biblography
• Draft blog post and Draft Op-ed

• Brown, R. & Peherson, S. (2019). Group processes: Dynamics within and between groups. Oxford: Blackwell
• Forsyth, D. R. (2019). Group dynamics. (7th ed.).  Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
• Haslam, S.A., (2004). Psychology in Organisations. A Social Identity Approach (2nd ed.). London: Sage
• Levi, D. (2017). Group dynamics for teams (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage

Assignment (30%) in the WT.
Assignment (70%) in the ST.

Students will choose ONE minor and ONE major assessment from the lists below:

Minor Assessment (30%, due at the end of Winter Term)

• 10 minute recorded presentation
• 10 minute podcast
• A1 poster
• A5 visual media

Major Assessment (70%, due at the start of Summer Term)

• 3000 word Policy Case Study comprised of Executive Summary (250 words) and Proposal (2500 words)
• 3000 word Essay
• 1500 word parliamentary POSTnote with 1000 word annotated bibliography
• 1500 word blog post AND 1500 word Op-ed