Individuals and Groups: Roles, Relationships and Group Dynamics
Core concepts
This area examines how individuals develop and function within groups and how groups shape behaviour. Candidates must understand socialisation (primary and secondary), the development of self-concept and self-esteem, and the influence of family, peers, school, media and community on identity.
Know the features of groups: purpose, membership, roles, norms, leadership, cohesion and communication. Distinguish formal from informal groups, and primary (close, personal) from secondary (task-focused) groups. Understand role expectations, role conflict and role strain, and how individuals negotiate multiple roles across family, work and community.
Leadership styles - autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire - should be described with their effects on group cohesion and outcomes. Understand conflict as a normal group process: causes (competing goals, unclear roles, poor communication, values clashes) and resolution strategies (negotiation, mediation, compromise, collaboration).
Traps to avoid
- Listing group types without linking them to individual wellbeing.
- Confusing role conflict (between different roles) with role strain (within one role).
- Describing leadership styles without evaluating their appropriateness to context.
- Ignoring power, inclusion and exclusion - who is heard and who is marginalised.
Worked example / rule of thumb
Suppose a school group's project is failing. Diagnose using group features: unclear roles, weak communication, mismatched leadership style. Then propose a democratic restructuring with defined tasks and a conflict-resolution step. Rule of thumb: diagnose with concepts, then intervene with a specific strategy and predict the effect on members.
Exam technique
Use short, concrete scenarios and name the concept explicitly (for example, "this is role conflict because...").