Headbands
Time Allowance: 45 Minutes
Equipment Needed:Ten to fifteen members. In a large group, a small group performs while the remaining members observe. One headband for each participant. The headband can be made of heavy paper or 5"x7" cards with 10" strings attached to the ends of the cards (so that the cards can be tied around the heads of the participants.) Each headband is lettered with a felt-tipped marker to show a particular role and an explanatory instruction as to how other members should respond to the role. Examples:
Comedian: Laugh at me.
Expert: Ask my advice.
Important Person: Defer to me.
Stupid: Sneer at me.
Insignificant: Ignore me.
Loser: Pity me.
Boss: Obey me.
Helpless: Support me.
Physical setting: A circle of chairs -- one for each participant -- is placed in the center of the room.
Steps:
1. The facilitator selects 10-15 volunteers to demonstrate the effects of role pressure.
2. He places a headband on each member in such a way that the member cannot read his own label, but the other members can see it easily.
3. The facilitator provides a topic for discussion and instructs each member to interact with the others in a way that is natural for him. Each is cautioned not to role play but to be himself. The facilitator further instructs the group to react to each member who speaks by following the instructions on the speaker's headband. He emphasizes that they are not to tell each other what their headbands say, but simply to react to them.
4. After about 20 minutes, the facilitator halts the activity and directs each member to guess what his headband says and then takes it off and reads it.
Variation I
The activity can be adapted by using role description appropriate for the participants, for example: black, teacher, nurse, policeman, parent, etc.Variation 2
One headband can be left blank to demonstrate the power of inference or projection.Variation 3
The activity can be preceded or followed by a lecturette about role theory, symbolic interaction, or living up to others expectations.5. The facilitator then initiates a discussion, including any members who observed the activity:
- What were some of the problems of trying to be yourself under conditions of group role pressure?
- How did it feel to be consistently misinterpreted by the group, e.g. to have them laugh when you were trying to be serious, or to have them ignore you when you were trying to make a point?
- Did you find yourself changing your behavior in reaction to the group's treatment of you, e.g. withdrawing when they ignored you, acting confident when they treated you with respect, giving orders when they deferred to you?
Processing Issues:
- Role functions in a group
- Pressures of role expectations
- Effects of role expectations on individual behavior in a group
- Explore the effects of role pressures on total group performances