At school, pupils often cooperate on common projects and must coordinate their different individual actions. However, grades are pervasively used even in cooperative situations, which make the pupils' differences in achievement and their relative rank salient and may reduce their inclination to work constructively with others. Thus, we…

In order to train young professionals, instructional methodologies in engineering need not only teach students knowledge, but must also instill the values and teach the behaviors--"competencies" students can demonstrate--required of professional practice. Herein, we focus on understanding the values and behaviors of students with respect…

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…

We examined the influences of different facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, Norm Acceptance, and Goal Priority) on team functioning at 3 different performance depictions: initial team performance, end-state team performance, and team performance change over time. We also tested the extent to which team-member…

This study researched 120 college students and professors to test the mediation of group efficacy between perceived autonomy support and self-determinism. The study provided surveys to students in eight different classes. Studying multiple classes offered an opportunity to understand the model more effectively and in a broader scope. The classes…

The purpose of this study was to uncover compositional and emergent influences on unethical behavior by teams. Results from 126 teams indicated that the presence of a formalistic orientation within the team was negatively related to collective unethical decisions. Conversely, the presence of a utilitarian orientation within the team was positively…

We developed a dual-level transformational leadership scale to measure individual-focused behavior at the individual level and group-focused behavior at the group level, and we validated the scale using a sample of 203 members from 60 work groups in a Canadian company. Results show that individual-focused leadership behavior, at the individual…

This research examines how individualism-collectivism and goal orientation impact training effectiveness through study of an internationally diverse sample of engineers who were undergoing technical training. In light of contemporary views of individualism-collectivism, we argue that collectivism will moderate the influence of learning and…

Reviews the major tenets of the groupthink hypothesis of Irving Janis, as well as the research on which it is based. Reviews previous research on group dynamics related to groupthink. Proposes guidelines for research to test the propositions of groupthink. (Author/RC)

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS EXPERIMENT WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER HIERARCHICALLY DIFFERENTIATED GROUPS WERE AS PRODUCTIVE ON PROBLEM-SOLVING TASKS AS HIERARCHICALLY UNDIFFERENTIATED GROUPS. THE EXPERIMENT ALSO INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF FORMALLY BASED STATUS DIFFERENCES ON GROUP EFFICIENCY AND RISK-TAKING. TWENTY GROUPS CONTAINING FOUR SUBJECTS…