Group Development in the Wild

Survivor is a show of true adaptation and rule. What I mean by that, is the new environment these contestants are dropped into challenge their abilities to mentally adapt to a new setting and group of people. This group will gradually organize the rule and goal of their tribe.
I was able to identify early group developmental stages, such as forming and norming. It was obvious some group members were confident enough to take the lead and compete for social acceptance. Jeremy stated “I feel good, everyone wants to date the prom king.” after he had three private conversations with Kelley, Natalie, and Missy regarding the group dynamics. This paves the way for a group leader in the Hunahpu tribe.
The primary tension is also obvious in the Coyopa tribe, where group dynamics have been ordered early on. Nadiya has already begun to weigh her competition within her own group by clearly stating the totem pole of age. She describes the younger ones in a happy-go-lucky tone, her own age group as capable, and speaks of the older two men in an uninterested and patronizing tone. This tension seems to be felt with other Coyopa group members, such as Dale who comments on his old age and lack of ability to connect with the others. Dale is exhibiting a clear example of the forming stage, where he determines what behaviors are accepted by the group. He succeeds and is the self-proclaimed “fire starter that’s moved up the food chain!”.The underlying arrangement of these players is something you can see all of them trying to work through individually.
Hidden Agendas are practically procedure for the game Survivor, and Val is keeping her goal from Keith; disrupting their communication even when he is all she has on exile island. Her goal is to save the clue she was given, in the hopes of finding an idol. John is keeping an agenda as well from his tribe member Wes when he is identified by him as a famous baseball player on the Braves. Although Wes was pleased to meet such an athlete, John was annoyed that this could possibly be shared with group members that are unaware. He states, “Come time, Wes is being voted off and I’ll make sure of it”, leaving Wes with no indication of his hidden agenda. The dynamics are constantly changing, and each stage varies from tribe to tribe according to their ability to become comfortable and work together.

The suspense is eating at me!