Learning from experience in sensitivity training groups: A personal construct theory model and framework for research

In their review and consideration of the future of the T-group movement, Cooper and Levine (1976) point out that in the thirty years since the inception of the T group as a training method, there has been an enormous expansion in the use of sensitivity training in organizations and in more formal educational settings. Smith (1971) has identified three major orientations of T-group activity: first, there is the traditional T group which emphasizes interpersonal relations and the devel-opment of interpersonal skills of participants. Second, there are organization development groups which emphasize the application of T-group methods to interpersonal problems at work, and changing the culture of organizations. Third, there are personal expression groups which aim at personal growth and development through encounter groups, gestalt therapy, and related activities. A development that represents an overlap of the first two orientations is the use of experiential exercises for manage-ment students, which attempts to develop student’s sensitivity to the dynamics of interpersonal relations at work (Kolb et al., 1971). The typical design of such a program, or workshop, is that the students will meet once a week for a two- to three-hou