The study of a group and its dynamics is concerned with the nature of changes and transformations that occur in the behavior of individuals in small groups as a result of dynamic changes among group members or during their interaction with each other in social situations. Group psychology, or group dynamics, is the practical study of group behavior, attempting to understand its origin, development, and its ability to influence the behavior of its members through social interaction situations.

Social psychology and group psychology are sciences that evolved with the early beginnings of psychology. Therefore, it is a modern behavioral science in its theses and applications, yet old in its ideas and theories. It provides an understanding of the behavior of individuals or group members to identify the group's behavior, performance, and its ability to become an effective group capable of achieving its goals. Group behavior cannot be determined by individual behavior alone due to the effect of interaction and influence among members, and members being affected by a wide range of variables that reflect on the group's behavior during social interaction, such as the influence of leadership, social context, the group's physical environment, and the social and personal characteristics of the members, which interact to complicate this task, making group behavior more complex than being viewed as merely the sum of the behaviors of its members.

The idea of authoring a book on group psychology came with the aim of providing a scientific book that serves as a primary and essential reference for teaching courses related to group psychology, especially in light of the clear shortage of Arabic references in this field, as what is available does not often reflect the developments in this vital branch of general and social psychology. This is also in light of its wide applications in various aspects of public life, whether in education, industry, commerce, administration, economics, the military, security, politics, diplomacy, and other vital areas of society.

The author was keen during the preparation of this book to consider several matters, including:

• That the book be suitable for all student levels across different educational programs, whether at the undergraduate or postgraduate level.
• That the book is easy to engage with by all members of society interested in the topic of group psychology at all levels, by including a large number of practical exercises and activities.

This book aims to achieve the following:

• To provide learners with knowledge about the concepts, theories, and methods of improving the performance of group psychology and the factors influencing its behavior.
• To present the book's material in a concise and comprehensive manner, using summarization and stimulating the reader's thinking towards many issues related to the research topic.
• To derive some models that explain group behavior, as these models help in understanding and deepening the material in the reader's mind.
• To provide learners with some exercises and activities that work to develop their thinking skills.

The book covers eight chapters distributed as follows:

• Chapter One: Introduction to the Study of Group Psychology: Discusses the sciences related to group psychology, the definition of group psychology and the group, characteristics of groups, the history of their study, and research methods.
• Chapter Two: Groups: Types, Importance, and Structure: Covers the types of groups, their importance, structure, and composition, as well as social roles, social statuses, group norms, communication methods in groups, and group development and growth.
• Chapter Three: Productivity in Groups: Discusses the concept of productivity and its theories, such as the social loafing theory, social facilitation theory, and social dilemma theory. It also covers group goals and tasks, factors affecting group productivity, and ways to improve teamwork.
• Chapter Four: Collective Decision-Making: Addresses leadership and decision-making, the concept of collective and individual decisions, and theories of collective decision-making such as social polarization theory and groupthink theory. It also studies the factors affecting group decisions and the methods and steps of collective decision-making. The chapter discusses factors of social power in decision-making such as conformity, obedience, compliance, and the influence of minority and majority in decision-making.
• Chapter Five: The Physical Environment of the Group: This chapter discusses the concept of environmental psychology and then reviews a number of physical environmental factors and their effect on group behavior, such as climate factors, light and colors, noise, environmental pollution, crowding, personal space, and territoriality.
• Chapter Six: Social Characteristics of the Group: This chapter deals with the characteristics of group cohesion, homogeneity, group affiliation, and the phenomenon of prejudice.
• Chapter Seven: Personal Characteristics of Group Members: Covers the characteristics of group size, age, gender, physical characteristics of the group, members' abilities, and the personal characteristics of group members.
• Chapter Eight: Practical Applications of Group Psychology: This chapter discusses the applications of group psychology in the fields of group psychotherapy and counseling, cooperative learning groups, terrorism and extremism groups, social integration groups, dialogue groups, self-help groups, and volunteer groups.

Book Details:

• Number of Pages: 304
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Binding Type: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st
• Printing Color: Black
• Size (cm): 17x24
• Weight (kg): 0.600
• Barcode: 9789957970031