TRAINING GROUP MEMBERS TO SET SESSION AGENDAS - EFFECTS ON IN-SESSIONBEHAVIOR AND MEMBER OUTCOME

This research addressed Yalom's (1983) hypothesis that group members w ho set session agendas would participate more effectively in group ses sions and have enhanced outcomes. The independent variable, agenda, wa s manipulated by assigning the 24 members of established personal grow th groups to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) training in agenda setting, (b) st abilizing interviews, and (c) no-contact control. Group members filled out pre- and posttest measures of enactments of intimate behaviors an d attitudes toward these enactments. They also filled out self- and ot her ratings of in-group enactments of intimate behaviors, and group le aders rated group members' intimate behavior at the end of each group session. Group members who set here-and-now session agendas enacted mo re in-group intimate behaviors and had better outcomes. Implications o f these results and suggestions for group counseling are discussed.