Novice Leaders' First Three Groups: Change and Consistency in Acceptance of Self and Others

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Abstract
In 95 small personal development groups for American undergraduates, all participants rated and were rated by their group leaders on measures of the two central dimensions of interpersonal behavior—acceptance versus rejection of self and others. Independent sets of group members rated 37 novice leaders or co-leaders relatively high on both scales; two subsequent groups rated them progressively higher, especially for acceptance of self. In contrast, these leaders rated the members of their successive groups progressively lower, particularly for acceptance of others. Because this mix of declining appraisals of others with rising self-acceptance moved leaders toward a less constructive interpersonal stance, these shifts invite further study. Despite such mixed trends and other complications, individual leaders' member-based ratings showed marked intragroup and moderate intergroup consistency. The latter finding is new evidence against Smith's (1980) depiction of small group leaders as “prisoners of circumstance” (p. 74).