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One of the more interesting aspects of groups is that they tend to take on a life of their own. Although this does not happen to all groups, it often occurs when group members find something they share in common or believe in and when they use that commonality or belief as a mechanism to help define what it means to be part of that group. A group comes to define its membership in terms of an agreed-upon perspective that encapsulates the meaning of the group. We see this all the time on college campuses with fraternities and sororities, academic clubs, and different majors. These different groups will proudly and visibly wear articles of clothing displaying their logo or motto. The logo or motto comes to represent something more than just a public proclamation that the person belongs to a particular group, but rather it becomes a statement that that person shares a particular “group consciousness” that explains meanings and motives. Symbolic convergence theory (SCT), which was discussed in chapter 6, is a theory that helps to explain this group consciousness (Bormann, 1982, 1985, 1986). Even though SCT is discussed above as it applies to rhetorical interpretation, here it is useful for us to consider its implications for small-group behavior. Group consciousness is identified when group members feel like they are a group acting as one with a common identity. If group members feel as though they are merely a bunch of people stuck into a group and they never come to share any sense of a common identity, then there is no group consciousness. (Some refer to this as the difference between an aggregate of individuals, such as a mob at a concert, and a group of individuals who share a common identity and a sense of being connected to one another). In other words, although people may be placed in a group and call themselves a group, a better test of how much of a group they are to is identify their sense of “groupness.” SCT helps us to identify when groups of people share a symbolic world, causing them to have a sense of group consciousness. The effect of this feeling of groupness is often a source of motivation and pride for group members. SCT helps to identify the symbolic reality that group members share (Bormann, 1982, 1985, 1986). If, for example, you share a symbolic reality with others in your social club or intramural sports team, that means that the group members come to the same understanding of verbal and nonverbal symbols. While we all share the same meaning for many words and nonverbal symbols, there are certain words or phrases or nonverbal symbols that may have special meaning for members of your particular group. These verbal and nonverbal symbols could be already existing symbols that you adopted, or they could be symbols that were created specifically by or for your group. When group members have identified a symbol that represents the group, they have symbolically converged. Remember that these symbols could be verbal, such as a motto or a story, or they could be nonverbal symbols such as logos. Symbolic convergence allows people to create, achieve, and maintain a common identity for the group, be it a large group, or a group as small as three or four, such as the editors and author seeking to find a shared vision for a book chapter (Fig. 8.3). SCT, and its different components (for a review see chapter 6), can be demonstrated by looking at a work group and how the members discuss their position on a topic and how they view each other. Consider that a group’s fantasy centers on the Star Wars saga. One group member comments that those taking the opposite stance as their group are on the “Dark Side.” This may be a trivial remark; however, the subsequent result is fantasy chaining (Bormann, 1986). The other group members jump in, agreeing, and add that their group “felt the Force” and is on the “Light Side.” The group then, based on characters in Star Wars, names one another. The most intelligent person in the group is given the name Obi-Wan-Kenobi; another group member is given the name Han Solo because he was dependable and was helpful in various situations. The female in the group is named Princess Leia because she is assertive and adamant about the group’s position or cause. The group even names their boss Qui-Gon Jinn because he is not only smart, but he is also somewhat rebellious toward the organization. The group’s chief opponent—either an unscrupulous competitor, a menacing boss, or an overzealous government agency official—is named Darth Vader. By the creation of terms and names among group members, symbolic convergence has been achieved. The example illustrates group fantasy and fantasy chaining according to SCT. Using the Star Wars saga as a description of their group helped the group to identify the group’s consciousness. Fantasy chaining occurred after one group member proposed the Star Wars theme, and then the others joined in. The result was group members symbolically converging. In sum, SCT is a theory that can be used to identify and explain a group’s meanings, behaviors, communication, and their motives (Bormann, 1982, 1985, 1986). It discusses how group members share messages that eventually pull them together (convergence) into a shared vision of the group, often with specific identities for members and notions of the group’s history, identity, and enemies. It has had wide application in the study of organizational group formation, and great practicality as a theory of organizational communication. References
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