Robert F. Bales

Some findings relevant to the great man theory of leadership.

breakdowns in communication are but a few of the symptoms of faulty group structure. Evidence of these should be identified in training and either corrected through training or appropriate changes should be made in crew composition. Participation in the activities of a group under survival conditions calls for skills in individual behavior for which all members are not adequately equipped, leading to tension, ineffectiveness, panic and withdrawal from participation. Crew members differ in their abilities to modify their roles with changing demands. Crew members, through training in the simulated survival situation, need to be trained to diagnose required roles, to perform them, and to modify their roles as required by group functioning.