Autonomy, coping and defense in small work groups : an analysis of psychological processes within and between individual group members

Abstract: Working together with other persons in a group is often stimulating, but it can sometimes cause blocking and be destructive for an individual member and/or the group as a whole. The aim of the present study is to describe and analyze how individual group members cope with specific situations and how this coping affects their degree of autonomy and the work of the group. Four mainly female staff groups working at day-care centers for children were analyzed. The groups worked with authentic planning tasks. Their discussions were videotaped and the subjects were interviewed before and after the group discussions. A stimulated recall technique was used for detailed analyses of certain episodes during the discussions and independent observations of individual subjects and the groups were made. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in terms of autonomy, coping and defense. The results indicate that most subjects used only a limited part of their intellectual and emotional capacity, and that their self-reported strategies focused on social relations rather than on task activity. The main strategies were to avoid confrontation, criticism, taking initiatives and responsibility. The observed behavior, however, was more approach oriented; the participants were active, took initiatives and tried to assume leading functions, but very few pursued this behavior for long periods of time. The general avoidance tendency affected the work of the groups and there was a clear tendency to adapt the work to the least experienced and trained member. The results are also discussed from an organizational perspective with regard to the lack of clearcut goals for the work at day-care centers, the type of work performed by the staff groups and the function of certain norm systems.