The Development of Mutuality in Natural Small Groups

Abstract

Newcomb's (1961) study of various individual and social factors influencing the development of friendship in a group of 17 male university students living in a fraternity house was reanalyzed (Newcomb, 1979) to test the hypothesis that individuals would gradually develop mutuality in their friendships. This reasonable hypothesis was, however, not supported by Newcomb's data. This article describes factors affecting the development of mutuality of attraction in natural small groups, and tests the hypothesis of the acquaintance process, Newcomb, (1961) with some new data. Female residents of three floors of a university dormitory were studied over the course of a year. Two floors showed definite increases in dyadic mutuality over time. Anomalous results for the third floor may have been due to a statistical ceiling effect. Some implications for applied small group research are discussed.