Trainer Interventions and Normative Patterns in the T Group

Abstract

The examination of interaction in seven T Groups in a two-week Human Relations Laboratory at Bethel, Maine, led to the development of a list of norms formulated into :i norm-categories, each containing a prescriptive and a proscriptive dimension. Trainer interventions selected by members (and trainers) in the groups were classified according to the norm-categories. The results indicate support for the view that trainer interventions contain implicit norm-messages indicating to members what norms should be established in the group. The classification of interventions according to norm-categories illustrates the feasibility of studying the trainer as a contributor to the development of norms in the T Group and the possibility of comparing trainers and groups in terms of norm-category frequencies and patterns.