Empirical Analysis of Group Development

Selected sessions of two long-term psychotherapy groups were rated using the Gottschalk-Gleser anxiety and hostility verbal content analysis scales. O-factor analytic techniques were used to identify sessions with similar interactional climates. The group judged clinically to be more successful demonstrated prolonged periods spent in various states. The affect dimensions of these states were consistent with the predictions of the group developmental stage hypothesis. The less successful group did not show these phenomena.