Kurt Lewin
Week 5 Blog
Introduction
Lewin was an important contributor to the area of group dynamics. His concepts of life space, motivation, and conflict are all pertinent to today's work environment. He believed that a group can alter an individual's behavior. He studied the democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles (Lewin, 2015).
Life Space
Lewin's definition of life space is all the influences acting upon a person at any given time. He referred to these influences as psychological facts. They can be internal, such as hunger, pain, etc. as well as external sources. It also includes recollection of past experiences. It is anything that a person is aware of in a particular moment, be it "real" or "imagined". These awareness-es will influence a person's behavior and depending upon what needs are present, a person's life space will be filled with the facts relevant to satisfying that need (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014, p. 457).
Motivation
Lewin believed people seek cognitive balance, that our needs cause tension in our life space until the need is satisfied. This hypothesis was tested and it was discovered that unfinished tasks were recalled more so than completed tasks by the subjects. Another of Lewin's students tested his hypothesis to find that people preferred to resume tasks that were interrupted over completed ones (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014, p. 458).
Conflict
Lewin investigated and studied three types of conflicts: approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance and approach-avoidance. Approach-approach refers to when a person desires two goals at the same time. Avoidance-avoidance is when a person is faced with two undesirable goals at once. Approach-avoidance is when a person has mixed feelings over a goal (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014, p. 458-459).
Today's Workplace
Lewin's theories can be utilized in today's work environments. His change model consists of three parts; unfreeze, change and freeze (or refreeze). This model explains how people must be prepared for change first, they must be ready and motivated to change. Next the actual change occurs and finally the change must be solidified (Lewin's Change Model Example, n.d.). Keeping in mind Lewin's other research, an employer can assist individuals and the group as a whole when enacting change in the workplace. Utilizing the correct leadership approach, being mindful of the life space of the employees, their motivation factors and managing any conflicts will help workplace change processes.
References
Hergenhahn, B. R., & Henley, T. B. (2014). An Introduction to the History of Psychology (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Kurt Lewin. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/338099/Kurt-Lewin
Lewin's Change Model Example [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHR8gw6derg