Trainers' Liking, Bion's Emotional Modalities, and T-Group Effect

Abstract

The relationships between trainers' differential liking for group members (actual and perceived), members' behaviors in the group reflecting Bion's emotional modalities, and T-group outcomes were investigated in three unstructured T groups of female students. Members' perceptions of trainers' liking were found to fit quite accurately the trainers' actual ratings, and group effect was a function of both actual and perceived trainers' liking. Member-rated outcomes were unrelated to their behaviors in the group reflecting Bion's modalities, while trainer-rated outcomes were differentially related to the different modalities. The modalities Work and Fight were both liked by the trainers and positively related to trainer-rated success; Flight and Counter-dependency were not liked by the trainers and unrelated to trainer-rated success; Dependency was not liked by the trainers but positively related to trainer-rated success; and Pairing was liked by the trainers and related to global, but not analytic, trainerrated success. The implications of those findings to Bion's theory and to group training were discussed.