This Group Or That Group?

This Group or That Group?
A Question of Group Commitment. During the Holidays, it is customary to gather together with family members, relive old times, and catch up on new events in each relatives lives. After all the conversations become silent and the meals are over, family members start looking for other things to do to occupy their time. Usually, in my family, this means a trip, as a large group, to the zoo, amusement park, or some other type of outing with fun times planned. One such trip stands out the most to me, a trip to the zoo in Austin, Texas. On my arrival, we decided to split into smaller, more manageable groups. I can attribute my decision to explore the zoo with family members that were close to my age and similar interests to Moreland and Levine’s (1982) model of group membership. I was in my investigative phase and according to Stephen Franzoi (2010), “...prospective members seek groups that provide the opportunity to satisfy our personal needs.” (p.302, para.1) I decided to see the sights with a group of my cousins because we were the closest in age and our daily interests were the most similar. As with any zoo, there are tons of animals to see. I had been to the Oklahoma City Zoo, but the Austin Zoo was ten times bigger, at least. This zoo had everything from the exotic animals to the cute and fuzzy ones. I mostly left the decision of what to see up to the other members. I was okay with pretty much everything that they wanted so see. The only thing I asked to be sure we saw, as a group, was the bird exhibit. I love the birds. I suppose that this could be an example of the contribution I gave to the group and the contribution that the group gave to me. In our sightseeing group, was a cousin that seemed to know a little bit more about the animals than the rest of us. I do not know if she was studying to be a veterinarian or just a huge animal lover. Nevertheless, she had a tidbit or two to add about every exhibit that we visited. I remember hearing on of my other cousins jokingly tell her that she was designated our tour guide and she should lead our group from there on out. We laughed and she continued to add her little bits of knowledge along the way. This is a great example of the maintenance phase. According to Franzoi (2010), “The group attempts to define specialized needs.” (p.302, para.3) I always presumed she just wanted the group to think she was intelligent, but it seemed to make her the leader. In the re-socialization phase Franzoi (2010) declares, “...both parties once again try to

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