Perceived power in a graduate level self-study group as a function of group development, personal characteristics, coalition membership, and context

The self-analytic group method was utilized in an exploratory study of power dynamics in a small group. Fifteen graduate students studied their own behavior over four days with the help of two consultants in the context of a Group Processes Class. Data was collected by videotape, survey, interview, and essay. The students ranked each other on perceived power each of the four days. One white male, one Jewish female, and one Asian-American female, later identified as Bridges between discordant factions, ranked most powerful over the four days. Several factors were simultaneously studied to determine their impact upon the attribution of power in the group. Expertise was found to correlate best with power, followed by likeability. In the category of social identity, three groups were perceived as more powerful on certain conference days: Asians, business students, and Ivy League graduates. Membership in particular coalitions was found significantly correlated with the perception of power. Specifically, those members with coalition support, those who took significant risks, and those perceived as Bridges, emerged as most powerful. Finally, group members perceived as helping the group solve developmental problems such as anxiety, and dependency, were attributed power. The unconscious manifestation of power was explored at the group level. It was found that the power of the group-as-a-whole was used in the service of expressing unconscious dynamics such as destructive competition, sexism, and racism. The implications of understanding power are discussed in terms of the problems of avoiding the enactment of dynamics such as racism and sexism in small group situations