Internal Structure of the Gross Cohesiveness Scale

The concept of group cohesiveness has been of growing interest to researchers in the social sciences (Back, 1951; Berkowitz, 1962; Katz & Kahn, 1978). In general, cohesiveness is concerned with the morale, efficiency, group spirit, and attractiveness of a group for its members (Anderson, 1975; Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950; Lott & Lott, 1964). It can be understood in terms of group members ’ satisfaction of interpersonal needs or satisfaction of intrapersonal needs vis-a-vis the task. Research into the specific nature of cohesiveness, however, has led to debate about the relative degree to which it is related to social and task factors (Anderson, 1975; Back, 1951). Anderson (1975), for example, has defined group cohesive-ness in terms of the individual members ’ involvement in the group task. He terms this task cohesion and conceptualizes it as operating independently of the interpersonal aspects of a group. Others (Lott & Lott, 1964; Schachter, Ellertson, McBride, & Gregory, 1951) have understood group cohesive-ness in terms of the members ’ interpersonal attraction and attraction to the group as a whole unit. One conceptual