Deaf Volleyball Association: A Social Group Analysis

1. Foundations. The group that I am currently involved in with is DVA (Deaf Volleyball Association). I believe that my team is considered as a group. This group that I am in is social group because it is like what the textbook says. The author stated that the small group of moderate duration and permeability characterized by moderate levels of interaction over an extended period of time, often in goal-focused situations (Forsyth, pg. 14). My team and I have a goal, which is to enjoy playing volleyball and try our best to win against other teams. We don’t really involve our feelings about anything when we interact with each other except of how we communicate, how we should have played, and how we should be very committed to attend volleyball

I also agree with the statement that was written in the textbook. Forsyth wrote, “A person who has not eaten will feel hungry, but a person who has little contact with other people will feel unhappy and lonely. In this section we review the evidence that backs up their claim that group membership fulfills a generic need to establish positive, enduring relationships with other people” (Forsyth, pg. 64). My team definitely gets grumpy if they are left out of group conversation or left out when playing volleyball. My group is definitely a sport team that is shown in Figure 3.1 in the textbook because we are a team and we play volleyball together. I would say that sometimes my group would ostracize. For example, my team shunned two players that were not really committed, like not making some time to practice with our team, not even once or kept making mistakes when we play

The two players reacted to ostracism in this group quitted right away and we had to replace the players in order to play volleyball and to be a team. The inclusion in this group reflect sociometer theory, because we often do what our team requires to maintain inclusion in our group so we would not feel excluded like my group did to two players before. The author wrote, “The sociometer model concludes that most people have high self-esteem not because they think well of themselves but because they are careful to maintain inclusion in social groups” (Forsyth, pg. 75). We try to attend every practice that my captain asked us to and we play seriously so we won’t be left out when we play volleyball. My group is more collectivistic than individualistic. The author wrote, “Collectivists (or interdependents or allocentrics) Individuals predisposed to put the group’s goals and needs above their own” (Forsyth, pg. 80). My group is focused on enjoying the volleyball game and to try our best to win against other teams. We are trying to accomplish the goal for our team, not for our own needs. My group exemplified optimal distinctiveness theory by communicating and