Four techniques of group decision making under uncertainty.

4 techniques of group decision-making—authoritarian, leader suggestion, census, and chairman—under risk and uncertainty were compared using a survival situation with 45 aircrews. "1. In a conflict situation, when a group discussion method… is involved, the members' reactions to the alternatives are relatively undifferentiated in contrast to the condition in which the leader alone makes the decision… . 2… . the groups appear to be least favorably disposed toward the authoritarian technique of decision-making… . 3. When the decision-making procedure is group centered the group reaches a decision involving greater personal risk to the members." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding the Emergence of State Goal Orientation in Organizational Work Groups: The Role of Leadership and Multilevel Climate Perceptions.

This article attends to a broad range of practically significant employee motivations and provides insight into how to enhance individual-level performance by examining individual-level state goal orientation emergence in organizational work groups. Leadership and multilevel climate processes are theorized to parallel each dimension of state goal orientation to cue and ultimately induce the corresponding achievement focus among individual work group members. It is argued that the patterns of leader behavior, which elucidate the leader's achievement priority, shape group members' psychological and work group climate to embody this priority. Resulting multilevel climate perceptions signal and compel group members to adopt the ascribed form of state goal orientation. The quality of the leader-member exchange relationship is viewed as a means to clarify leader messages in the formation of group members' psychological climate and internalize these cues in the emergence of state goal orientation. Considerations for future research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership and the spatial factor in small groups.

The present study extends the hypothesis that "persons tend to interact more in group discussion with persons sitting opposite them than they do with their neighbors." This effect seems to be manifested most strongly in groups with no designated leader. "It will tend to disappear in groups where group direction is shared about equally by the members and the designated leader, and it will be reversed in situations where the designated leader gives very strong direction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual asymmetry in consensus estimates of majority and minority members.

Three experiments revealed a consistent pattern of consensus estimates. Numerical status and group growth or decline were manipulated between subjects. Growth was manipulated orthogonally to a 3rd variable: focus. Focus was manipulated by describing growth information with respect either to the in-group or the out-group (e.g., in-group growth and out-group decline). A Numerical Status?×?Focus interaction emerged in Study 1. Numerical minority members' consensus estimates for an opinion issue increased when growth information was out-group focused, whereas majority members' estimates did not differ as a function of the focus variable. Study 2 replicated these effects across other opinion dimensions. Study 3 confirmed the importance of the growth and focus variables in the absence of numerical status manipulations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of participatory and supervisory leadership on group creativity.

This study compares the creativity of 4-man groups under 2 conditions of leadership. The Ss were 90 freshmen and sophomore Navy ROTC midshipmen and 30 NROTC seniors who served as group leaders. In 15 of the groups, the leaders acted as chairmen who directed the group discussions and contributed to the task solution. In the other 15 groups, leaders acted in a supervisory capacity: they directed and guided group discussion and they were allowed to encourage members or to reject ideas, but the leaders were prohibited from contributing to the solution of the task. Groups having participatory leaders were generally superior in quantity of output while groups under supervisory leaders were superior in the quality of the product. Although leaders in the 2 conditions did not differ in their satisfaction with the group product, the participatory leaders were more satisfied with their own individual contribution to the task. The leadership styles did not produce differences in the members' esteem for the leader or in the members' morale and satisfaction with the task. Differences were found in the influence of the leader intelligence and ability scores on group creativity. (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)     

Vicarious moral licensing: The influence of others' past moral actions on moral behavior.

This article investigates the effect of others' prior nonprejudiced behavior on an individual's subsequent behavior. Five studies supported the hypothesis that people are more willing to express prejudiced attitudes when their group members' past behavior has established nonprejudiced credentials. Study 1a showed that participants who were told that their group was more moral than similar other groups were more willing to describe a job as better suited for Whites than for African Americans. In Study 1b, when given information on group members' prior nondiscriminatory behavior (selecting a Hispanic applicant in a prior task), participants subsequently gave more discriminatory ratings to the Hispanic applicant for a position stereotypically suited for majority members (Whites). In Study 2, moral self-concept mediated the effect of others' prior nonprejudiced actions on a participant's subsequent prejudiced behavior such that others' past nonprejudiced actions enhanced the participant's moral self-concept, and this inflated moral self-concept subsequently drove the participant's prejudiced ratings of a Hispanic applicant. In Study 3, the moderating role of identification with the credentialing group was tested. Results showed that participants expressed more prejudiced attitudes toward a Hispanic applicant when they highly identified with the group members behaving in nonprejudiced manner. In Study 4, the credentialing task was dissociated from the participants' own judgmental task, and, in addition, identification with the credentialing group was manipulated rather than measured. Consistent with prior studies, the results showed that participants who first had the opportunity to view an in-group member's nonprejudiced hiring decision were more likely to reject an African American man for a job stereotypically suited for majority members. These studies suggest a vicarious moral licensing effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived levels of self-disclosure, mental health, and helpfulness of group leaders.

Studied the relationship between therapist self-disclosure, mental health, and helpfulness as perceived by group members and determined if a member's perception of the group leader is a function of the member's own level of self-disclosure and mental health. Data were collected from 6 university encounter groups by using ranks for group member variables and rating scales for perceptions of group leaders. Perceptions of group leader self-disclosure, mental health, and helpfulness were all positively correlated. No differences occurred in the perceptions of group leaders as a result of the members' ranked levels of self-disclosure and mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural similarities and differences in group work: Pilot study of a U.S.–Chinese group comparison.

This pilot study representing collaborative cross-cultural research was conducted to compare cross-cultural similarities and differences between 2 comparable task groups by using the 8-step learning through discussion (LTD; W. F. Hill, 1969) method. One LTD group was conducted in the United States with U.S. members; the other LTD group was conducted in China with Chinese members. The same scholarly article on career needs of Chinese middle school students provided the discussion input (M. H. France, Y. Jin, K. Huang, F. Si, & W. Zhang, 1991). Videotapes of each group were made for comparative review by the researchers, providing for analysis of similarities and differences in verbal interaction, nonverbal interaction, leader role, and content themes. Implications of the results and suggestions for U.S. group leaders in working with Chinese task groups are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Projection in group counseling: The relationship between members' interpersonal problems and their perception of the group leader.

Explored projection in group counseling by examining the relationship between the group members' interpersonal problems and their perception of the group leader. Before participation, 118 personal-growth group members filled out the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems by L. M. Horowitz et al (see record 1989-10599-001) and after each session they filled out the Trainer Behavior Scale (L. Bolman, 1971). A latent variable analysis revealed that during the 1st 10 group sessions, overly dominant group members perceived the group leaders as more dominant and overly cold group members perceived the group leaders as less affiliative. There was less relationship between group members' interpersonal problems and ratings for group leaders over time. Implications of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Member variation, recognition of expertise, and group performance.

The most effective method for aggregating the conflicting opinions of experts is a subject of active debate in the literature. Task differences are most often used to explain differing results among studies. Alternatively, we suggested that the characteristics of the interacting groups themselves determine whether they outperform or underperform their equivalent composites. Expert loan officers serving in ad hoc and practiced groups, on average, performed equally as well as did their composite and most influential individual. However, whether a particular group outperformed or underperformed its composite could be explained by variation in group members' performances and abilities to recognize differential expertise. These findings suggest the circumstances in which alternative social decision schemes are likely to be more effective. They also support the usefulness of conceptualizing group judgment as a weighted combination of the opinions of group members whereby the allocation of weights to members is the critical issue. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group Decision Making and Perceived Decision Success: The Role of Communication Medium.

The authors investigated the role of communication medium on the relationship between team member perceptions and decision success. Seventy-three 3-person groups participated in a consensus intellective task either face-to-face (FTF) or via computer-mediated communication (CMC). The participants also assessed their group's decision success and team member competencies. CMC group members' success perceptions significantly predicted their group's performance, but FTF group members' perceptions did not. Furthermore, only CMC group members' judgments regarding their group's problem-solving ability significantly predicted their decision success. Last, judgments of decision success mediated the relationship between perceptions of members' problem-solving ability and decision success only for CMC group members. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of procedural fairness and leader support on interpersonal relationships among group members.

In this article, the authors examine the impact of fair treatment by a group leader on people's relationships with and feelings toward other individual group members. Previous studies neglected procedural fairness effects on interpersonal relationships between group members. The authors hypothesized that fairness affects interpersonal relationships and feelings toward another group member only when the leader is regarded as representative and supported by the other group members. In three studies, the authors manipulated procedural fairness (no voice vs. voice) and other group member's support for the leader (full vs. mixed support for the leader). Two vignette studies supported the hypothesis. In addition, an experimental laboratory study showed that this interaction effect between procedural fairness and leader support was most pronounced among those with high belongingness needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pride in group performance and group-task motivation.

This experiment tested the propositions that pride in one's group results from the members' perceptions of effective task performance of the group as a whole and is directly associated with high motivation toward the assigned task of the group. 25 3-man groups assigned to work on a simulated Air Defense task were distributed among 5 experimental conditions. The measure of task motivation was the amount of task-oriented discussion during a "break" period. "Evidence is cited supporting the hypothesis that the high group-task motivation results from a perception of interdependence among the group members with respect to the attainment of reward." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patients and family members: the role of knowledge and attitudes in cancer pain

Cancer pain theoretically comprises sensory, affective, and cognitive dimensions, implying that patients and family members perceive and report cancer pain based on these factors. The study reported here investigated the relationship between specific knowledge and attitudes (cognitive factors), and patients' and family members' reports of pain due to cancer. The relationship between cognitive factors and reports of cancer pain was investigated in interviews with 122 patients and their family members. Pain was measured using the Brief Pain Inventory; knowledge and attitudes were measured using a form previously developed by the authors. Patients' and family members' reports of patient pain and performance status were highly correlated, although family members consistently reported more pain and disability. Using regression analysis, cognitive factors were strongly related to family reports of patients' pain (R2 = 0.27), but contributed little to explaining pain reported by patients themselves (R2 = 0.06). Improved understanding of patients' pain assessments depends on further investigation of other cognitive factors and of sensory and affective factors. Family members' assessments of pain are significantly related to appropriate knowledge and attitudes.     

Affective mechanisms linking dysfunctional behavior to performance in work teams: A moderated mediation study.

The present study examines the association between dysfunctional team behavior and team performance. Data included measures of teams' dysfunctional behavior and negative affective tone as well as supervisors' ratings of teams' (nonverbal) negative emotional expressivity and performance. Utilizing a field sample of 61 work teams, the authors tested the proposed relationships with robust data analytic techniques. Results were consistent with the hypothesized conceptual scheme, in that negative team affective tone mediated the relationship between dysfunctional team behavior and performance when teams' nonverbal negative expressivity was high but not when nonverbal expressivity was low. On the basis of the findings, the authors conclude that the connection between dysfunctional behavior and performance in team situations is more complex than was previously believed--thereby yielding a pattern of moderated mediation. In sum, the findings demonstrated that team members' collective emotions and emotional processing represent key mechanisms in determining how dysfunctional team behavior is associated with team performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of two styles of leadership in small group discussion.

Previous research favors democratic group discussion leadership. "Three small groups of adult Ss viewed and discussed a motion picture film under directive discussion leadership, while three additional groups followed the same procedure under nondirective leadership. Following the discussion, the Ss rated the leader in terms of 20 adjective pairs, each of which defined favorable and unfavorable ends of a continuum. They also answered questions relative to the value of the discussion." The results indicate that a directive approach by a discussion leader is favored by members of sophisticated adult discussion groups. 24 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of public and private self-awareness on deindividuation and aggression.

Tested the proposition, derived from the authors' (in press) differential self-awareness theory, that only 1 type of antecedent variable traditionally associated with deindividuation (attentional cues) and a single aspect of self-awareness (private) are involved in the deindividuation process. 48 male undergraduates were assigned to groups of 4 and were exposed to factorial combinations of attentional cues (internal vs external focus of attention) and accountability cues (potential accountability to authority figures and victims) and then allowed to aggress against a victim. As predicted, attentional cues affected private but not public self-awareness, whereas accountability cues altered public but not private self-attention. External attentional cues and low accountability cues disinhibited aggression relative to internal attentional cues and high accountability cues, respectively. Exposure to external attentional cues created an internal state of deindividuation, composed of reduced private self-awareness and altered experience, that mediated aggression. Two major types of collective aggression were identified: One category resulted from group members' assessments of the possibility of an authority figure's and the victim's surveillance of their attacks; the other category resulted from the decreased cognitive mediation of behavior evoked by the deindividuation process. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal communication: A cross-cultural comparison of American and Japanese counseling students.

Examined the nonverbal acuity of mental health professionals from 2 countries in a cross-cultural study. A nonverbal picture test that measures recognition of affective states was administered to 47 American and 36 Japanese counseling students. The 120-item instrument, devised for a previous study, consisted of posed pictures of American-born graduate students representing 15 specific emotions. The pictures and cuts of pictures contained 4 sections of the body—face, arms, silhouette of body posture (with the facial expression obscured), and whole body. Emotional state labels selected by Ss in this study were compared with the answers previously designated by a panel of American judges of nonverbal information. Thus, the score attained by an S was the number of correct matches with the American judges. Results from the total nonverbal test score show that (a) females were more accurate in judging nonverbal cues than males and (b) American Ss had a higher accuracy rate than Japanese Ss. Results on the 30-item subtest of facial expressions are examined. The ranking of emotional states for each group by number of correct responses yields a fairly similar list. The resulting recognition of emotions from facial pictures is compared to findings from a previous cross-cultural study. Implications regarding cross-cultural communication and cross-cultural counseling interactions are discussed, as are suggestions for further research. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance implications of leader briefings and team-interaction training for team adaptation to novel environments.

The authors examined how leader briefings and team-interaction training influence team members' knowledge structures concerning processes related to effective performance in both routine and novel environments. Two-hundred thirty-seven undergraduates from a large mid-Atlantic university formed 79 three-member tank platoon teams and participated in a low-fidelity tank simulation. Team-interaction training, leader briefings, and novelty of performance environment were manipulated. Findings indicated that both leader briefings and team-interaction training affected the development of mental models, which in turn positively influenced team communication processes and team performance. Mental models and communication processes predicted performance more strongly in novel than in routine environments. Implications for the role of team-interaction training, leader briefings, and mental models as mechanisms for team adaptation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)