The public expression of opinions (and related communicative activities) hinges upon the perception of opinion consensus. Current explanations for opinion consensus perceptions typically focus on egocentric and other biases, rather than functional cognitions. Using self-categorization theory we showed that opinion consensus perceptions flow from…

This article considers three issues. First, through a rephrased summary of the argument in Pavitt and Johnson (1999), the author describes why he feels that the socioegocentric model (SM) is unlikely to be an accurate portrayal of communicative influence. Second, based on considerations addresses in more detail in Pavitt (in press), the author…

In this article, the authors seek to augment Dean Hewes's (1986, 1996) intriguing bracketing and admirable larger effort to "return to basic theorizing in the study of group communication" by making transparent the foundational, and debatable, assumptions that underlie those models. Although these assumptions are addressed indirectly by Hewes, the…

This article presents the authors' response to Hewes's (1986, 1996, 2009) models of communication effects on small group outcomes. As sophisticated and thoughtful as Hewes's new model is, however, the authors take issue with it. For one, there is reason to question whether his approach is feasible. For another, his models are not founded on solid…

This article presents the author's response to Professor Hewes's "The Influence of Communication Processes on Group Outcomes: Antithesis and Thesis." The author believes that Hewes could have been more helpful to the reader and to those who are apt to find inspiration in the steps he has taken in his essay to promote a "return to basic theorizing…

The purpose of the author's contribution to this colloquy was to spark conversation on the theoretical nature of communication processes and the evidentiary requirements for testing their relationship to group outcomes. Co-discussants have raised important issues concerning the philosophical basis of the socioegocentric model (SM) and dual-level…

Status hierarchies typically emerge when groups of strangers interact. Relatively little work tests explanations for this process in homogenous groups, and the majority has been conducted in intragroup settings. We test an expectation-states explanation in an intergroup context using the multilevel application of the actor-partner interdependence…

This multilevel investigation examined the effect of group interaction and its influence on individual-level membership variables and group assimilation. The study is based on a model of group socialization developed by Moreland and Levine (1982) and was modified in this study to investigate the development and maintenance of highly interdependent…

Tests a model of the factors that influence groups to follow various paths as they make decisions. Uses three panels of contingency variables to predict properties of the group's developmental path. Finds that group decision paths and their properties can be predicted as a function of task and relational contingencies. (MS)

Compares the Group Valence Model (GVM) to several derived versions of the Valence Distribution Model (VDM), as they relate to the group problem-solving process. Suggests that, not withstanding predictive accuracy, the VDM seems generally inferior to the GVM, which consistently accounts for more of the decision-making phenomenon. Discusses…