CHANGE THEORY o Driving Forces
by Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) - Forces that push in a direction that causes
change to occur.
- Facilitate change because they push the
person in the desired direction.
- They cause a shift in the equilibrium towards
change.
o Restraining Forces
- Forces that counter driving forces.
- Hinder change by pushing the person in the
opposite direction.
- Cause a shift in the equilibrium which
KURT LEWIN:
opposes change.
- Kurt Lewin is considered as the Father of Social
Psychology. o Equilibrium
- Born in Germany, later emigrated to the US. - A state of being where driving forces equal
restraining forces and no change occurs.
- Well known for his writings on group dynamics,
group therapy, and social psychology. - It can be raised or lowered by changes that
- Introduced field theory concepts, emphasizing occur between driving and restraining forces.
that the group differs from the simple sum of its
parts. LEWIN’S CHANGE MODEL:
- His Field Theory states that “one’s behavior is
related both to one’s personal characteristics
and to the social situation in which one finds
oneself.”
- Coined the term group dynamics in 1939.
- The theory pursues a scientific exploration,
understanding, and controlling of systems.
LEWIN’S CHANGE THEORY: 1. Unfreezing
o Lewin’s Change Theory was his most - Process which involves finding a method of
influential theory which was a model of the making it possible for people to let go of an
change process in human systems. old pattern that was counted as productive
in some way.
o He theorized a 3-stage model of change that
is known as the unfreezing-change-refreeze - It is necessary to overcome the strains of
model that requires prior learning to be individual resistance and group conformity.
rejected and replaced.
- During this stage, the motivation to establish
o The theory states behavior as “a dynamic some sort of change occurs. The individual
balance of forces working in opposing
becomes aware of the need for change.
directions.
- This stage is a cognitive process in which a
person becomes aware of a problem or of
that a better method of accomplishing a task
and hence, of the need for change.
- Having identified the need, the individual
must also determine the driving and
restraining forces.
- Achieved by using 3 methods:
o Increase the driving forces that direct
behavior away from the existing of
situation of status quo.
o Decrease the restraining forces that
negatively affect the movement from
the existing equilibrium.
o Find a combination of the 2 methods
above.
2. Changing
- Moving to a new level which involves a
process of change in thoughts, feelings, and
behavior that is in some way more liberating
or productive.
- The actual change is planned in detail and
then started.
- Information about the problem is gathered
from one or several sources.
- It is important at this stage that all people
involved agree that the status quo is
undesirable.
3. Refreezing
- Establishing the change as a new habit so
that it now becomes the standard operating
procedure.
- Without this stage, it will be easy to go back
to the old ways.
- In this stage, the changes are integrated and
stabilized.
- The individuals involved in the change
integrate the idea into their own value
system.
