According to Fiedler's Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness, group performance is a function of the leader-situation interaction. A review of past validations has found several problems associated with the model. Meta-analytic techniques were applied to the Contingency Model in order to assess the validation evidence quantitatively. The…

This study examined the effects of different degrees of task structure on leadership between 18 married parents, 18 childless married spouses, and 18 unmarried men and women who comprised newly acquainted couples. Each couple completed three tasks which varied along the dimension of task structure and the order of task presentation. Analysis of…

The Collaboration Model Project Council, at the University of Florida, represents an attempt to establish interinstitutional collaboration among (1) a university and two community colleges, (2) three county public school systems, (3) the teachers' associations of three counties, (4) community parents and citizens of three counties, and (5) college…

Four dimensions that must be present for a group to function effectively are elaborated in this guide: (1) commitment of members to a common purpose; (2) leadership that facilitates organization and structuring to accomplish these purposes; (3) open communication among members; and (4) a climate of acceptance and trust. Defining a group as any…

Communication researchers would like to know if the quality of a speaker's voice is a reliable indicator of an effective communicator and if voice quality can reveal information about the speaker's intelligence, leadership ability, and personality type. Experimental studies involving over 400 undergraduates at the University of Nebraska sought to…

Research on the problems faced by women in managerial positions is reviewed in this paper. Work in the area of tokenism is presented first, followed by similar research documenting the fact that females participating in mixed groups operate at a disadvantage. Research on the problems of women in leadership roles is presented next. Other…

How the processes of group interaction combine to help or hinder cognitive and affective learning in the classroom is discussed. Numerous concepts about interaction in the classroom along with the available research on those concepts expressed in practical terms are presented. Implications for teachers are emphasized. The book is designed to be…