Discussions are commonly used in online teaching and have been shown to foster student learning and collaboration. This case study uses content analysis to explore the interaction patterns of student online discussions during a semester-long teacher preparation course using concepts from sociometry. Findings suggest that interaction patterns were…

Reviews the research dealing with women in leadership roles within groups of both sexes. Some research indicates a reluctance of women to assume leadership roles. Other findings indicate women are more likely to be strong leaders when the task solution is given. (LPG)

This experiment investigates the relation between differences in strategy and performance in a variety of interaction situations. Accommodative and exploitative behavior tended to be alike in males and females. Situational variables studied included intragroup vs. integroup negotiation, three different games, and three sets of contrasting…

Subjects read discussion group transcripts and evaluated the performance of group members, the group leader, and the group as a whole. Discussants' names were varied to represent male or female leadership and all-male, all-female or half-and-half group membership. The data supported two of the three coping strategies postulated as alternatives to…

Female subjects (N=22) in two consciousness-raising groups were objectively assessed to determine whether changes relating to self-reported profeminist attitudes and behaviors and relating to self-esteem and social desirability would occur. All experimental subjects significantly shifted toward more self-reported profeminist attitudes and…

During divorce, women feel dependent and confused. Whether intended or not, the direction of a woman's growth (indeed, whether or not there is any) will reflect the counselor's belief in what is possible and appropriate for women. (Author)

Leader behavior of males and females in three-person experimental groups was investigated in varying contexts. Deviating from stereotypical expectations, females reacted to "achieved" leader role by relatively intense leadership efforts, a response predicted for males but not females. Also, both sexes addressed more directive behavior toward own…

Analyzed contrasting assumptions of three theoretical orientations used to explain mixed-sex small group interaction through observation of two mixed-sex, human relations training groups of undergraduate students (N=45). Found no support for sex-role differentiation or adaptation orientations but did find support for role-status expectation…

Past research predicts that males will be more likely to withdraw in one-on-one interactions versus groups, whereas females will be more likely to withdraw in groups than in one-on-one interactions. Ninety-eight 10-year-old children engaged in a word generation task either in same-sex dyads or in groups. Boys completed significantly more words in…

The "diffusion of responsibility" hypothesis as an explanation of helping behavior (or lack of same) is qualified by suggesting that the hypothesis applies only in non-interacting situations. It is hypothesized that interacting groups who are aware of a help-demanding situation actually focus the responsibility and, therefore, take action as a…

Examined the skill and gender of individual group discussants and the sex composition of the group as factors potentially influencing perceptions of emergent leadership. Confirmed that task competence, more than gender, was crucially related to an individual's emergence as the group's leader. (PD)

To investigate differences in social behavior between learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (NLD) children in different size groups and to examine the association between children's social behavior and acceptance by their peers, a study was conducted of 44 LD and 50 NLD boys and 7 LD and 13 NLD girls from fourth, fifth, and sixth grade…

Studies have shown that, in small groups, two types of leaders generally emerge, i.e., a task specialist concerned with achieving the group's goals and a social-emotional specialist concerned with the morale and cohesiveness of the group. To determine if leadship style is related to sex role orientation, rather than to biological sex, to…

The literature on sex-related differences in leadership behavior was reviewed in order to explore underlying factors. Currently there exist several models of male leadership in small groups, but no models of human leadership which represent the experiences of women in same sex and mixed sex groups. Key considerations for constructing such a model…

Relationships between patterns of family interaction and child development are investigated in this study on how family environment and quality of interaction relate to an adolescent's psychological and social functioning. A sample of 99 white middle-class families participated in a 2-hour structured interview in their homes. The interview…