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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
The Purpose Of Our Efforts, Donelson R. Forsyth
The Purpose Of Our Efforts, Donelson R. Forsyth
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
This year’s APA Convention in San Francisco was something of a homecoming for the division, for it was in that same city, some 18 years ago, that group psychology and group psychotherapy first took the stage as a newly founded division within APA. Only a few months earlier this fledgling coalition of dedicated supporters of group approaches had successfully petitioned APA for official divisional recognition. As that petition explained, it was time for psychologists to focus on groups and group-based approaches to adjustment, arguing that there “are two basic psychological approaches to human life and to mental health; one through …
Seeing Groups, Donelson R. Forsyth
Seeing Groups, Donelson R. Forsyth
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
Sometimes I think that only a select few of us—members of Division 49, for example— really understand groups and group approaches to treatment. Last week in class a student, and a particularly bright one at that, looked puzzled when I spoke about group psychotherapy: Is that a method used to treat crazy groups, he asked? Later that same week I was meeting with a professor in the school of business and I mentioned group psychotherapy. He was equally bewildered. Is that a team-building intervention for poorly functioning groups, he suggested? Then, while reading the brand-new APA Dictionary of Psychology (2007) …
Attempting To Improve The Academic Performance Of Struggling College Students By Bolstering Their Self-Esteem: An Intervention That Backfired, Donelson R. Forsyth, Natalie K. Lawrence, Jeni L. Burnette, Roy F. Baumeister
Attempting To Improve The Academic Performance Of Struggling College Students By Bolstering Their Self-Esteem: An Intervention That Backfired, Donelson R. Forsyth, Natalie K. Lawrence, Jeni L. Burnette, Roy F. Baumeister
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
Theory and prior research suggest that (a) a positive sense of self–worth and (b) perceived control over one’s outcomes facilitate constructive responses to negative outcomes. We therefore predicted that encouraging students to maintain their sense of self–worth and/or construe their academic outcomes as controllable would promote achievement. In a field experiment, low–performing students in a psychology class were randomly assigned to receive, each week, review questions, review questions plus self–esteem bolstering, or review questions plus exhortations to assume responsibility and control. Contrary to predictions, the D and F students got worse as a result of self–esteem bolstering and students in …
Group Dynamics, Donelson R. Forsyth
Group Dynamics, Donelson R. Forsyth
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
Group dynamics are the influential actions, processes, and changes that take place in groups. Individuals often seek personal objectives independently of others, but across a wide range of settings and situations, they join with others in groups. The processes that take place within these groups--such as pressures to conform, the development of norms and roles, differentiation of leaders from followers, collective goal-strivings, and conflict-substantially influence members' emotions, actions, and thoughts. Kurt Lewin, widely recognized as the founding theorist of the field, used the term group dynamics to describe these group processes, as well as the scientific discipline devoted to their …