ABSTRACT

Group scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the dynamics of group conflict and group cohesion. This investigation contends that both dynamics are closely related, such that they are related causally. A three-wave longitudinal investigation is reported that examines the extent to which this is the case. Results suggest that group conflict has a strong negative effect on group cohesion over time, and that this is the case despite controlling for the effect of past cohesion on future cohesion (i.e., the cohesion autoregressions). Alternatively, the negative effects of group cohesion on group conflict are much more limited and were deemed trivial. These results suggest that group conflict is a strong causal indicator of group cohesion, but that the causal effect of group cohesion on group conflict is much more limited. Future scholarship is encouraged to investigate the extent to which certain variables moderate the group conflict → group cohesion relationship, such that the negative effects of group conflict are attenuated or perhaps reversed.

摘要

群体学者对群体冲突和群体凝聚力的动态给予了相当多的关注。这项调查认为，这两种动态密切相关，因此它们之间存在因果关系。据报道，一项三波纵向调查研究了这种情况的程度。结果表明，随着时间的推移，群体冲突对群体凝聚力有很强的负面影响，尽管控制了过去凝聚力对未来凝聚力的影响（即凝聚力自回归），情况仍然如此。或者，群体凝聚力对群体冲突的负面影响要有限得多，而且被认为是微不足道的。这些结果表明，群体冲突是群体凝聚力的一个强有力的因果指标，但群体凝聚力对群体冲突的因果影响要有限得多。