Groups, leadership, and men

Abstract

Reviews the book entitled "Groups, leadership, and men" (see record 1952-00803-000 ) by H. Guetzkow. This book presents progress reports of five years (1945-1950) of contract research in Human Relations sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. These twenty reports are revisions of papers given at a mutual stocktaking conference which was held at Dearborn, Michigan in September, 1950. The book is divided into the three main sections suggested by the title. About half of the space and total number of reports are included in the first section, which deals with research on the behavior of groups. The second section deals with problems of leadership. Topics discussed include: the influence of the group in determining leadership style, the relation of the follower's personality to the leader, and leadership effectiveness at the production level. In the final section, which is concerned with individual behavior, the psychological reader is brought back to terra firma. New light is cast on traditional problems of measuring motivation, the relationship of verbal behavior to the reasoning process, and the advantages of neuropsychiatric screening. Some technical detail has been omitted from the original reports in order to make them suitable for a wider readership. In general, the content of the book is more of a prologue to a new social psychology than a report of substantial achievement. This volume is a useful source of supplementary reading for students in social psychology, and is of particular interest to the multitude of social scientists now in the employ of various Armed Forces Human Resources programs. It has a wider appeal than most technical publications of in-service military groups, for the emphasis is on basic research which the Navy has so far-sightedly underwritten. Also, it is a good example of what may emerge from the large-scale institutional research which has become another sign of our time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)