The role of justice in team member satisfaction with the leader and attachment to the team.

This study examined the effects of team decision accuracy, team member decision influence, leader consideration behaviors, and justice perceptions on staff members' satisfaction with the leader and attachment to the team in hierarchical decision-making teams. The authors proposed that staff members' justice perceptions would mediate the relationship between (a) team decision accuracy, (b) the amount of influence a staff member has in the team leader's decision, and (c) the leader's consideration behaviors and staff attachment to the team and satisfaction with the leader. The results of an experiment involving 128 participants in a total of 64 teams, who made recommendations to a confederate acting as the team leader, generally support the proposed model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication restraints, group flexibility, and group confidence.

"This study was designed to explore the relationship between selected group structure variables and the group's ability to adjust to the requirements of a new situation (group flexibility) and the group members' expressed confidence in the ability of the group to succeed in a problem-solving situation." About 1000 men in 96 aircrews did a group task (8-item intelligence exam). Leaders in flexible groups scored low on the F scale and high on conformity. Greater confidence was expressed by members of high attraction groups and groups whose leaders tended to conform to the group members' opinions. "… groups with more open communication systems (group with fewer communication restraints) are more flexible and more confident." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving groups accurately.

This study bridges a gap between traditional group perception research and person perception research by relating group members' perceptions of others to their perceptions of the group's functioning. Ratings of ability, responsibility for a group task, and liking of others were gathered from college students completing group assignments. Group members were able to accurately perceive other group members along task relevant ratings. A social relations model analysis further revealed that individuals' liking of specific others did not impact the accuracy of their judgments of others' abilities or of the group's functioning as a whole. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stepping up to the challenge: A critical examination of face-to-face and computer-mediated team decision making.

The stepladder technique was designed to improve team decision making by staggering members' entry into a discussion (S. G. Rogelberg, J. L. Bames-Farrell, & C. A. Lowe, 1992). After examining the real and perceived influence exerted by members joining the discussion at different stepladder stages, the authors compared the technique's effects on face-to-face versus computer-mediated teamwork. They also tested the impact of electronic communication on members' perceptions of their collaborative processes. Results did not support the hypothesis that stepladder members joining the discussion early in the procedure enjoy disproportionate amounts of perceived influence, yet a prediction concerning the stepladder technique's incongruent effects across different communication media was partially upheld. As expected, face-to-face participants felt more influential and satisfied than their computer-mediated counterparts, regardless of decision technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Signal-detection analysis of group decision making.

How effectively can groups of people make yes-or-no decisions? To answer this question, we used signal-detection theory to model the behavior of groups of human participants in a visual detection task. The detection model specifies how performance depends on the group's size, the competence of the members, the correlation among members' judgments, the constraints on member interaction, and the group's decision rule. The model also allows specification of performance efficiency, which is a measure of how closely a group's performance matches the statistically optimal group. The performance of our groups was consistent with the theoretical predictions, but efficiency decreased as group size increased. This result was attributable to a decrease in the effort that members gave to their individual tasks rather than an inefficiency in combining the information in the members' judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving group decisions by better pooling information: A comparative advantage of group decision support systems.

This study compared a group decision support system (GDSS) with face-to-face (FTF) group discussion on characteristics of information exchange and decision quality. Participants given conflicting information tended to share more of their unique data and engaged in more critical argumentation when using the GDSS than when meeting FTF. Conversely, when information was consistent among members, there were no such differences between FTF and GDSS groups. The GDSS groups significantly outperformed the FTF groups in agreeing on the superior hidden profile candidate, especially when there was a lack of prediscussion consensus. Individual-level analyses revealed that members of GDSS groups that did not have a prediscussion consensus tended to experience stronger preference shifts toward the group's consensus decision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sacrifice, cohesion, and conformity to norms in sport teams.

The authors investigated the relationship between group members' voluntarily initiating an action or giving up prerogative or privilege for the sake of another person or persons without regard to reciprocity and members' conformity to group norms. The members of 13 high-level cricket teams described the extent to which they and their teammates regularly made personal sacrifices for the good of their teams. They also described their group's cohesiveness and their conformity to such group norms as "support each other" and "stick to the training schedule." The analyses supported the conclusion that perceptions of individual sacrifice and teammates' sacrifice contribute to group cohesion and, in turn, cohesion contributes to perceptions of teammates' conformity to group norms. Beyond these general findings, a number of aspects related to specific results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resolving meaning: Interpretation in diverse decision-making groups.

In this theoretical article, the authors develop a model that links diversity, as mediated by interpretative processes, to both performance and affective outcomes in newly formed diverse decision-making groups. Group diversity predicts the use of interpretive resolution strategies of information seeking or dialogue, which in turn influence the group's decision quality. The level of participation, influenced by group diversity, moderates the relationship between diversity and resolution strategy such that diverse groups whose members exhibit a greater degree of participation will engage in dialogue. Resolution strategy, diversity, and participation jointly affect the members' affective perceptions of satisfaction with the group process and desire to remain in the group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-observation of social behavior and metaperception.

In 3 experiments (Ns?=?68, 72, and 101) the authors tested the hypothesis that the opportunity to observe oneself in social interaction increases the accuracy of metaperception (prediction of others' social judgments of oneself). Small groups were videotaped during a decision-making task, after which group members judged each other's social anxiety. Participants watched either the videotape of their group's interaction or a videotape of another group's interaction. After watching the videotape, participants predicted how they were judged by each member of the group. Results from the 3 experiments confirmed the hypothesis that self-observation increases the accuracy of metaperception. Presumably, self-observation provides objective information about one's behavior, which increases the ability to determine how one is judged by others, assuming self and others share meaning systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and group perceptions of therapeutic factors and session evaluation: An actor–partner interdependence analysis.

The relationship between a group member's and other group members' perceptions of therapeutic factors and session evaluation were examined using Kenny, Mannetti, Pierro, Livi, and Kashy's (2002) model. In addition, I examined the relative variance in therapeutic factors as a function of sessions, group members, and groups. Thirty-six growth-group participants participating in six 28-session growth groups filled out critical incident (CI) forms and session evaluations. CIs were rated on 10 therapeutic factors dimensions derived from Bloch, Reibstein, Crouch, Holroyd, and Themen (1979). On average, 95% of the variance in the therapeutic factors was at the session level, 4% of the variance was at the person level, and 1% of the variance was at the group level. Contrary to the hypotheses, individual's perception of therapeutic factors was not significantly related to session depth or smoothness. Contrary to the hypothesis, other group members' perceptions of therapeutic factors were not significantly related to session depth, although there was a trend (p = .06). As hypothesized, other group members' perceptions of therapeutic factors were significantly related to session smoothness. The findings support Yalom and Leszcz's (2005) contention that the group leaders' primary function is to create a therapeutically effective group culture and not to focus on individual group member change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Team negotiation and perceptions of trustworthiness: The whole versus the sum of the parts.

In a team negotiation context, the authors empirically explored how judgments of team-level trust are derived from individual-level trust. Basing their argument on both the negativity bias and the discontinuity effect, the authors posit that people will focus most on the least trustworthy individual member of a team when making judgments about collective team-level trust. Findings from two studies demonstrate that perceptions of team trust are indeed lower than the average ratings of individual trust and are statistically equivalent to the least trusted member. In addition, compared with average individual trust levels, perceptions of collective team trust were found to be more predictive of (a) impasse rates in distributive negotiations and (b) the level of joint gain in integrative negotiations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

This study provides a meta-analysis of research on the associations between relationship conflict, task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. Consistent with past theorizing, results revealed strong and negative correlations between relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. In contrast to what has been suggested in both academic research and introductory textbooks, however, results also revealed strong and negative (instead of the predicted positive) correlations between task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. As predicted, conflict had stronger negative relations with team performance in highly complex (decision making, project, mixed) than in less complex (production) tasks. Finally, task conflict was less negatively related to team performance when task conflict and relationship conflict were weakly, rather than strongly, correlated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental investigation of group members' perceived influence over leader decisions.

The premise that increased perceived influence over leader-made decisions has positive effects on members' satisfaction and commitment was tested in an experiment. One hundred four participants in ad hoc groups of 4 (plus 1 confederate) gave their opinions about the settlement of a civil lawsuit to the group leader (a confederate), who made the decision on behalf of the group. Feedback provided to the participants by the leader manipulated members' perceived personal influence, and the influence of the group as a whole, over the leader's decision. Perceived personal influence predicted levels of satisfaction, whereas perceptions of group influence were important with respect to commitment to the decision. Results are integrated with recent work on leadership and organizational behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of individual differences on the performance of hierarchical decision-making teams: Much more than g.

The authors propose (a) that team members' general cognitive ability ( g) and conscientiousness are key resources for hierarchical decision-making teams with distributed expertise; (b) that a conjunctive model is most appropriate for capturing staff members' standing on these attributes; and (c) that in addition to main effects, staff attributes interact with those of the leader to determine team performance. Results from a study of 51 four-person teams performing a computerized decision-making task show that decision accuracy was highest when both the leader and staff (defined conjunctively) were high on g and conscientiousness. Post hoc analyses suggest reactions to the weakest member differed depending on whether the member was low in g or conscientiousness. Low- g members were helped, whereas low-conscientiousness members were ignored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive Reactions to Working in Groups in a Study of Group and Individual Goal Decision Making.

The authors explored group members' positive reactions to working in groups that performed a card-sorting task for which they set goals. They also tested predictions regarding observed differences between the goal decisions of groups and individuals for their own and others' performance. Consistent with predictions, group members had more goal commitment, more positive attitudes toward goal attainment, and greater satisfaction with their performance than individuals. Moreover, groups chose goals that were less difficult than the goals of individuals both for their own and for others' performance. The ways in which group decision processes and other factors may account for differences in group and individual goal decisions are considered. In addition, the social-emotional and task-related benefits members perceive of working in their groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group performance as function of task difficulty and the group's awareness of member satisfaction.

Investigated the hypothesis that group effectiveness increases with increased member awareness of group satisfaction, and that this effect is greater for difficult than for easy tasks. 5-person groups attempted 3 tasks differing in difficulty, under 3 conditions of satisfaction feedback: no feedback, overt feedback, and covert feedback. In the overt condition, Ss publicly indicated their satisfaction with the problem-solving process, whereas in the covert condition their satisfaction was indicated anonymously. The results supported the hypothesis. It was suggested that valid communication of satisfaction leads to more complete use of members' contributions, and hence improves performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In-group members' perceptions of a social mobility attempt: Effects of boundary permeability and outcome.

This study examined in-group members' impressions of a fellow member who attempted to join a higher power group, along with the interactive effects of the permeability of group boundaries and relative success of this social mobility attempt on impressions. Because groups with less permeable boundaries are typically more cohesive, a group member's relative success in achieving mobility should have meaning for these groups, as opposed to those with more permeable boundaries. Thus, it was predicted that the effect of success versus failure on in-group members' evaluations would be stronger when group boundaries were less permeable. The results showed that a member successful at social mobility was evaluated more positively than one who was unsuccessful, and this difference was larger when boundaries were less permeable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Real and ideal others in romantic relationships: Is four a crowd?

Undergraduate and graduate members of 24 couples involved in romantic relationships completed a loving scale, a liking scale, and a scale of interpersonal involvement regarding (a) their feelings toward the other, (b) their feelings toward an ideal other, (c) their perceptions of the other's feelings toward them, and (d) their perceptions of an ideal other toward them. Ss also provided ratings of satisfaction with their relationship. Results indicate that both absolute and comparison levels for feelings made independent contributions to satisfaction in relationships. Feelings regarding the other member of the couple were more predictive of satisfaction than were feelings regarding the ideal other member, and feelings toward the other and perceived feelings of the other toward the self mattered about equally for satisfaction. At least 6 comparison levels that can be used to assess satisfaction in romantic relationships were identified, 5 of which were predictive of such satisfaction. Higher levels of feelings for men but not for women predicted discrepancies in experienced levels of satisfaction for the 2 members of a couple, and perceived rather than actual differences between members' feelings better predicted satisfaction. It is concluded that the perceived other may be key to satisfaction in a relationship. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptation of Teams in Response to Unforeseen Change: Effects of Goal Difficulty and Team Composition in Terms of Cognitive Ability and Goal Orientation.

Halfway through a 3-hour experiment in which 64 3-person teams needed to make a series of decisions, a communications channel began to deteriorate, and teams needed to adapt their system of roles in order to perform effectively. Consistent with previous research, team composition with respect to members' cognitive ability was positively associated with adaptation. Adaptation was also influenced by interactions of team goal difficulty and team composition with respect to team members' goal orientation. Teams with difficult goals and staffed with high-performance orientation members were especially unlikely to adapt. Teams with difficult goals and staffed with high-learning orientation members were especially likely to adapt. Supplemental analyses provided insight into the observed effects in that the difficulty of team goals and members' goal orientation predicted interpersonal, transition, and action processes, all of which predicted team adaptation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)