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Originally developed by the research and development corporation RAND in the 1950s, the Delphi method was used as a tool for forecasting the effect of technology on warfare. The term "Delphi" comes from the Greek myth in which the god Apollo travels on a dolphin from Crete to Delphi, where he kills a local monster and becomes an oracle who forecasts the future. Keywords: consensus statement; Delphi process; research methodology EN consensus statement Delphi process research methodology 247 250 4 01/10/23 20230201 NES 230201 What is a Delphi consensus process and when should you use it?. [Extracted from the article]

There are competing popular beliefs about whether education reform is a fundamentally bipartisan or conservative movement. Yet, despite the popularity of these prevariling depictions, there has been minimal effort expended toward systematically observing the political beliefs of the key players in the education reform movement. I gauge the political compass of education reform by administering anonymous political surveys to individuals affiliated with the two largest educational philanthropies and the nation's largest convening of education policy scholars. Overall, I observe that, contrary to both popular competing characterizations of education reform, education reformers-those who receive philanthropic support to execute reform and those who produce education research to guide reform – overwhelmingly align with the Democratic Party and progressive political positions. The revealed political homogeneity of education reform indicates that it might be fertile terrain for groupthink to flourish. Implications and potential remedies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence of group bias based on race, ethnicity, nationality, and language emerges early in the life span. Although understanding the initial acquisition of group bias has critical theoretical and practical implications, precisely how group biases are acquired has been understudied. In two preregistered experiments, we tested the hypothesis that generalized social group biases can be acquired through exposure to positive nonverbal signals directed toward a novel adult from one group and more negative nonverbal signals directed toward a novel adult from another group. We sought to determine whether children would acquire global nonverbal signal-consistent social group biases that extended beyond their explicit social preferences, by measuring children's preferences, imitation, and behavioral intentions. Supporting our preregistered hypotheses, preschool-age participants favored small and large groups whose member received positive nonverbal signals, relative to groups whose member received more negative nonverbal signals. We also replicated prior work indicating that children will acquire individual target biases from the observation of biased nonverbal signals. Here we make the case that generalized social group biases can be rapidly and unintentionally transmitted on the basis of observational learning from nonverbal signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does groupthink affect court deference to the government in times of heightened security concerns? We argue that male judges serving in homogeneous panels in federal appellate courts modified their behavior post-9/11, but that the presence of a female on the panel mitigated these effects. Using data on the U.S. Court of Appeals from 1978 to 2008 in search-and-seizure cases, we argue that women can safeguard against groupthink effects that otherwise trend toward a more deferential, less rights-oriented approach in times of heightened security. Our findings suggest women mitigate their male colleagues' shift toward more deferential decisions by affecting panel outcomes that are more consistent with peacetime decisions. These results suggest the important role women exert in collegial panels beyond direct voting patterns. In times of heightened security concerns, panel diversity can avoid groupthink that might stand in the judiciary's way of providing an effective check on executive and legislative power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common assumptions about decision-making is that groups usually enhance the quality of the outcomes of deliberative processes. The research on groupthink behaviour challenges this belief by hypothesizing that certain group constellations excessively seek concurrence and thereby increase the probability of faulty decision-making. Since the decision-making process in international adjudication almost always involves group choices, it is crucial to consider the group environment of collegial court decision-making. This article utilizes the General Group Problem Solving model (GGPS) to ascertain how strong the different group conformity antecedents are pronounced in five international courts (the ICJ, the ITLOS, the WTO AB, the ECtHR and the ICC). The results of the GGPS analysis indicate that the WTO AB and the ICC are most likely susceptible to groupthink effects while the other courts are relatively resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial in a scientific journal by forensic odontologists defending the admissibility of bite mark evidence, Epidermis and Enamel, is critiqued. The editorial's primary deficiency is that it fails to address scientific challenges to the reliability and validity of bite mark evidence. The Article first traces the impact of bite mark analysis through two wrongful conviction case examples in Mississippi and Michigan. The Article then reviews the scientific research and reasoning that shows bite mark evidence to be unreliable and to lack scientific support. The critique of Epidermis and Enamel shows it to be riddled with logical flaws; failing to critically address scientific analyses showing the unreliability of bite mark analysis; erroneously deflecting criticism of bite-mark (in)accuracy by noting that wrongful convictions often have multiple causes; mischaracterizing social scientific research; falsely claiming that a number of exonerations were not wrongful convictions; being highly defensive; citing the testimonials of supporters; and defaming its critics. The illogical defense of bite mark analysis by forensic odontologists is explained in social psychological terms through the constructs of organizational deviance, groupthink, cognitive dissonance, cognitive bias, and Mercier and Sperber's evolutionary theory of reasoning. We conclude by noting that the resistance to scientific challenge by the forensic odontologists in their editorial reflects the rear-guard defensiveness displayed by other forensic analysts and unprogressive prosecutors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scientific paradigm typically embraces research norms and values, such as truth-seeking, critical thinking, disinterestedness, and good scientific practice. These values should prevent a paradigm from introducing defective assumptions. But sometimes, scientists who are also physicians develop clinical norms that are in conflict with the scientific enterprise. As an example of such a conflict, we have analyzed the genesis and development of the shaken baby syndrome (SBS) paradigm. The point of departure of the analysis is a recently conducted systematic literature review, which concluded that there is very low scientific evidence for the basic assumption held by Child Protection Teams: when certain signs are present (and no other "acceptable" explanations are provided) the infant has been violently shaken. We suggest that such teams have developed more value-based than scientific-based criteria when classifying SBS cases. Further, we suggest that the teams are victims of "groupthink," aggravating the difficulties in considering critics' questioning the criteria established by the teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groupthink is one of the most popular and extensively discussed approaches in studying small group decision-making. However, the methodological question of how to make concurrence-seeking, as the key element of groupthink, visible has received insufficient attention. To make group decision behind closed doors more visible and methodologically advance groupthink theory, I introduce Discourse Network Analysis and apply it to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Results demonstrate that the US decision to go to war was based on a sudden and undisputed threat-perception that exhibited hasty concurrence-seeking. Given this threat-perception, and a fierce struggle between advocates of a diplomatic solution and supporters of a military response, the United States chose a military strategy—one that inevitably resulted in war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on decision making in foreign policy and national security has had little interaction with the field of public policy. This review connects the two fields. We utilize a key public policy concept, the policy cycle, to provide a framework for our review of group decision‐making dynamics in national security and foreign policy. We describe key stages of the policy cycle followed by a review of the leading models of group decision‐making dynamics. We then construct a bridge between the two, demonstrating how specific stages of the policy cycle are typically associated with specific group decision‐making dynamics. To illustrate this link we provide an example of decision‐making dynamics within the Obama administration throughout policy stages of the 2016 campaign against the Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically assesses the claim that smaller states may be structurally and socially pre-disposed towards more effective government performance. A review of recent experience in Iceland and Ireland indicates that the domestic characteristics that have been argued to foster superior small state performance can, under certain conditions of size and homogeneity, contribute to government failures. Furthermore, experience in these states suggests that high levels of social cohesion and homogeneity may increase the risk of a specific social phenomenon ('Volkthink') with adverse consequences for public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a range of so-called image macro Internet memes and describes them as emerging multimodal constructions relying as much on image as on text, and apportioning roles to images much like constructional slots, for instance to fill in a subject role in a subjectless clause, or even to provide the main clause content to a textually given when-clause. In addition to existing or partially altered linguistic constructions, many examples also rely on specific top text/bottom text division of labor, and crucially depend on frame metonymy, with limited formal means quickly cueing richly detailed frames (for instance by using iconic images). The popularity of memes, forming series and cycles of iterations and remixes, and their role in establishing and maintaining discourse communities seems to be driven by a need to express and reconstrue viewpoints, often starting from ideas, affects or stereotypes assumed to be intersubjectively shared with viewers, whose responses they solicit. This paper argues that a proper description of Internet memes of the type considered requires a construction grammar approach, complemented by an understanding of viewpoint dynamics in terms of a Discourse Viewpoint Space regulating the network of spaces and viewpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introduction to the special issue on viewpoint phenomena in multimodal communication, we highlight central questions concerning the nature of multimodality and of conceptual viewpoint, which the issue as a whole expands and clarifies. We argue that multimodality needs to be rethought as a varied but cohesive phenomenon, and we briefly illustrate both embodied multimodal interaction (in an example from stand-up comedy) and the meaning emergence in artifacts relying on both text and image (in an example of a poster with an environmental message). Correspondingly, the category of multimodal constructions already recognized for embodied interactions should be expanded to cover conventionalized image/text combinations. Finally, we stress that viewpoint is the pivotal concept that elucidates how communicators use the various modalities for cohesive communicative purposes across the wide range of artifacts and multimodal forms discussed in the special issue, including gesture in political speeches, viewpoint in comics, grammatical forms in Internet memes, ASL, stance expressions, eye gaze, and embodied responses to objects and architectural artifacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective is pointed out to the reflexivity practice about personal and group processes, which could be support or barriers for conducting research with qualitative methodological approach. The purpose is to generate ways of thinking in the field of educational training and conducting this kind of studies. In personal processes it is significant understanding the anxiety that comes from the approach to the study object, its management through a pertinent methodology and monitoring personal prejudices and proper contact with informants. In group processes it is a great help identify and interpret the manifest and latent content generated in the interaction process between work team members during the realization of studies; the teams phases process since its formation, in project implementation and in the final products generation. Reflective practice is a valuable tool for the development of qualitative research, to overcome different obstacles, to produce studies with quality, methodological rigor also to generate new research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to difficulties gathering and evaluating complete information, cognitive limitations and biases preclude individuals from making fully value-maximizing choices when making decisions. It has been suggested that, done properly, involving advisors can compensate for individual-level limitations. However, the 'groupthink' tradition has highlighted ways group-aided decision making can fail to live up to its potential. Out of this literature has emerged a paradigm Janis calls 'vigilant problem-solving.' For this article, we interviewed 20 heads of subcabinet-level organizations in the U.S. federal government, asking questions about how they made important decisions. Ten were nominated by 'good-government' experts, 10 chosen at random. We wanted to see whether there were differences in how members of those two groups made decisions, specifically, to what extent executives in the two categories used a 'vigilant' process. We found, however, that similarities between the two groups overwhelmed differences: As best as we were able to measure, decision making by U.S. subcabinet executives tracks vigilant decision making recommendations fairly closely. The similarity reflects a common style of senior-level decision making, which we theorize grows out of government bureaucracy's methodical culture. We did, however, develop evidence for a difference between outstanding executives and others on another dimension of decision making style. Outstanding executives valued decision making decisiveness-'bias for action'-more than the comparison group. Perhaps, then, what distinguishes outstanding executives from others is not vigilance but decisiveness. Contrary to the implications of the groupthink literature, the danger in government may be 'paralysis by analysis' as much or more than groupthink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on some signs of a dysfunctional veterinary team and offers suggestions for improvement of the same. Topics discussed include groupthink wherein every group member agrees to a new policy without raising any objections, in-group bias wherein people evaluate their group to better as compared to others, cross-training of team members for improvement in improve team flexibility and views of psychologist Kathleen Ayl regarding causes of exhaustion in veterinarians.

This article provides the text of the English translation of Sigmund Freud’s previously unpublished 1935 letter to Percy Allen, the only known letter in which Freud expresses his unqualified support for the theory that ‘William Shakespeare’ was the pen name of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (1550–1604). The article summarizes the literature on Freud’s authorship views, showing that scholars who disagree with Freud on this matter have minimized his opinion by pathologizing it, or emphasizing Freud’s reservations about the matter. The prevailing theory as to who wrote Shakespeare, on close examination, turns out to be based primarily on circular thinking, confirmation bias, tradition, authority, groupthink, and enforcement of a taboo against the presentation or objective consideration of conflicting evidence. In addition, it originated before we had a better understanding of the high frequency of anonymous, pseudonymous, and allonymous literature in Elizabethan England. The reputations enjoyed by leading Shakespeare scholars lead nonspecialists to assume that these experts can be trusted to tell us who wrote Shakespeare. Unfortunately, Shakespeare scholars falsely claim absolute certainty that they know that ‘Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare.’ Freud’s dissenting opinion has been supported by increasing evidence since 1935. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group decision making has been widely studied since group decision making processes are very common in many fields. Formal representation of the experts' opinions, aggregation of assessments or selection of the best alternatives has been some of main areas addressed by scientists and researchers. In this paper, we focus on another promising area, the study of group decision making processes from the concept of influence and social networks. In order to do so, we present a novel model that gathers the experts' initial opinions and provides a framework to represent the influence of a given expert over the other(s). With this proposal it is feasible to estimate both the evolution of the group decision making process and the final solution before carrying out the group discussion process and consequently foreseeing possible actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies the groupthink model of decision-making to the planning for Operation Market Garden in late 1944. It shows especially strong parallels between decision-making in the Market Garden case, and those of the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, and the Challenger shuttle disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss a voting model in which voters can obtain information from a finite number of previous voters. There exist three groups of voters: (i) digital herders and independent voters, (ii) analog herders and independent voters, and (iii) tanh -type herders. In our previous paper Hisakado and Mori (2011), we used the mean field approximation for case (i). In that study, if the reference number r is above three, phase transition occurs and the solution converges to one of the equilibria. However, the conclusion is different from mean field approximation. In this paper, we show that the solution oscillates between the two states. A good (bad) equilibrium is where a majority of r select the correct (wrong) candidate. In this paper, we show that there is no phase transition when r is finite. If the annealing schedule is adequately slow from finite r to infinite r , the voting rate converges only to the good equilibrium. In case (ii), the state of reference votes is equivalent to that of Kirman’s ant colony model, and it follows beta binomial distribution. In case (iii), we show that the model is equivalent to the finite-size kinetic Ising model. If the voters are rational, a simple herding experiment of information cascade is conducted. Information cascade results from the quenching of the kinetic Ising model. As case (i) is the limit of case (iii) when tanh function becomes a step function, the phase transition can be observed in infinite size limit. We can confirm that there is no phase transition when the reference number r is finite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on transactive memory theory, we propose that transactive memory systems (TMS) operate as a meta-resource that enhances team performance directly by generating resource surpluses and indirectly by diminishing the unnecessary expenditure of resources on inter-member conflict. We also propose that this mediated relationship is moderated by team size. In conceptualizing TMS as a meta-resource, we advance a theoretical model which posits a critical role for TMS in preventing resource losses stemming from dysfunctional member interactions. This model also helps to explain the performance benefits observed in previous TMS research and the boundary conditions exerted by group size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study information cascade in networks with positive and negative edges. The cascade depth is correlated with community structure of signed networks where communities are defined such that positive inter-community and negative intra-community links are minimized. The cascade is initialized from a number of nodes that are selected randomly. Finally, the number of nodes that have participated in the cascade is interpreted as cascade depth; the more the number of such nodes, the more the depth of the cascade. We investigate influence of community structure (i.e., percentage of inter-community positive and intra-community negative links) on the cascade depth. We find significant influence of community structure on cascade depth in both model and real networks. Our results show that the more the intra-community negative links (i.e., the worse the community structure), the more the cascade depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on intellectual diversity in law school faculties in America as of January 2014, focusing on the reported efforts to resist the allowance of competing ideas in law school classrooms and faculty lounges. According to the article, people should never value intellectual diversity over intellectual truth. The Groupthink theory of communication is mentioned in relation to academic settings and the truth-seeking process. Errors, extremism, and falsity are also examined.

This article reviews major decision-making models with an emphasis on basic theoretical perspectives as well as on how these models explain foreign policy decision making and national and international security decisions. Furthermore, we examine how these models have been utilized in explanations of various international crises. Specifically, for each model, we present examples drawn from the literature on applications of the respective model to foreign policy and national security decisions. The theories we have reviewed are as follows: rational choice, cybernetic model, prospect theory, poliheuristic theory, organizational and bureaucratic politics, groupthink and polythink, and analogical reasoning. We also review the Applied Decision Analysis method, and the concept of biases in decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we present a new method for group decision making with incomplete fuzzy preference relations based on the additive consistency and the order consistency. We estimate unknown preference values based on the additive consistency and then construct the consistency matrix which satisfies the additive consistency and the order consistency simultaneously for aggregation. The existing group decision making methods may not satisfy the order consistency for aggregation in some situations. The proposed method can overcome the drawback of the existing methods. It provides us with a useful way for group decision making with incomplete fuzzy preference relations based on the additive consistency and the order consistency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Social psychological research on group processes has consistently shown that group members adjust their views to conform to dominant and/or socially desirable stances. Studies are less clear, though, on how friendships within groups impact this tendency. Some studies suggest greater group cohesion leads to more conformity; other studies suggest friendship lessens the pressure to agree on certain issues. In this study, we use mock juries to test the impact of varying levels of friendship on jurors’ propensities to change their verdicts to the dominant position (in this case acquittal, or a “not guilty” verdict). Our findings show that distant friendships among jurors increase the odds of conforming to acquittal; but close friendships decrease the odds of conformity. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding group processes and conformity as well as for jury research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: On a mission to Mars the crew will experience high autonomy and inter-dependence. “Groupthink”, known as a tendency to strive for consensus at the cost of considering alternative courses of action, represents a potential safety hazard. This paper addresses two aspects of “groupthink”: the extent to which confined crewmembers perceive increasing convergence in personal values, and whether they attribute less tension to individual differences over time. It further examines the impact of personal values for interpersonal compatibility. These questions were investigated in a 105-day confinement study in which a multinational crew (N=6) simulated a Mars mission. The Portrait of Crew Values Questionnaire was administered regularly to assess personal values, perceived value homogeneity, and tension attributed to value disparities. Interviews were conducted before and after the confinement. Multiple regression analysis revealed no significant changes in value homogeneity over time; rather the opposite tendency was indicated. More tension was attributed to differences in hedonism, benevolence and tradition in the last 35 days when the crew was allowed greater autonomy. Three subgroups, distinct in terms of personal values, were identified. No evidence for “groupthink” was found. The results suggest that personal values should be considered in composition of crews for long duration missions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents information on the mortgage crises and bubble burst which resulted in the increase in corporate bankruptcies, foreclosure rates and job layoffs. The lenders offering high-interest sub prime mortgage loans and the importance of third-party credit ratings for becoming eligible for loan is discussed. The passing of Sarbanes-Oxley Act which is a corporate governance regulatory statute by the U.S. federal government is considered. The concept of groupthink and the factors that negatively affect decisions in groupthink, the cause of failure of telecoms and dot-com sectors and the Enron Corp. scandal is also discussed.

The article focuses on the benefits and drawbacks of group collaboration and group work in online research in education. It addresses the role of collaborative search tasks and group research in the development of problem-solving skills, learning, and information searching. The author discusses a study done in a middle school in which the success of group collaboration in research was explored by comparing the results of a classroom of individual researchers and a classroom of group researchers. Topics include the cognitive effects of group searching, the phenomenon of groupthink in collaborative research, and the role of student social status in achieving correct answers in research groups.

Abstract: Bicultural individuals differ in the degree to which their cultural identities are integrated versus conflicting—Bicultural Identity Integration (BII). Studies of judgment find that biculturals with less integrated identities (low BIIs) tend to defy salient cultural norms, whereas those with highly integrated identities (high BIIs) conform. This study examined biculturals'' judgment in a group decision-making context, focusing on individuals'' reactions to consensus in cultural ingroups. Results showed that low (vs. high) BIIs are more likely to resist the group consensus when it is incorrect, but not when it is correct. These findings suggest that contrarian impulses of low BIIs can be channeled towards facilitating constructive conflict—resisting groupthink that results from cultural homogeneity. Implications for bicultural identity, motives, and organizational behavior are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article studies inferences from distributed, interdependent information in group problem-solving. Three inference types (collaborative, individual, and shared) are distinguished, based on information sharing and distribution, with a special focus on collaborative inferences that generate new information no individual group member could have inferred. In an experiment, n = 27 dyads solved a specifically designed inference task. Inferences from shared information were the most likely, individual inferences from unshared information less likely, and collaborative inferences from unshared, distributed information the least likely to be drawn. An analysis of inference patterns in dyads' discussions points towards the individual- and group-level processes involved in drawing collaborative inferences, and explains why first support measures explored in this study were not optimally designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two experiments we show how teams can benefit from the presence of multiple sources of deep-level task-related diversity. We manipulated differences (vs. similarities) in task information and personal decision rules in dyads (Study 1) and three-person teams (Study 2). The results indicate that when both sources of diversity are present, partners and team members integrate their unique knowledge and decision rules into the collaboration and report perceptions of common interests, commitment and outcome satisfaction afterwards. This is not the case when there is just one source of diversity, causing the partners and team members to possess different information, but endorse similar decision rules or vice versa. The results are discussed in light of research on congruency and identity processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the institutional culture of family courts using the social psychology groupthink theory in the U.S. It defines the theory and discusses its expansion and refinement in previous years. It discusses the three key antecedents of the theory including the cohesiveness within a group, the presence of structural faults within the organization, and the existence of a provocative situational context encompassing moral dilemmas and external stress.

Deliberative democracy grounds its legitimacy largely in the ability of speakers to participate on equal terms. Yet theorists and practitioners have struggled with how to establish deliberative equality in the face of stark differences of power in liberal democracies. Designers of innovative civic forums for deliberation often aim to neutralize inequities among participants through proportional inclusion of disempowered speakers and discourses. In contrast, others argue that democratic equality is best achieved when disempowered groups deliberate in their own enclaves (interest groups, parties, and movements) before entering the broader public sphere. Borrowing from each perspective, the authors argue that there are strong reasons to incorporate enclave deliberation among the disempowered within civic forums. They support this claim by presenting case study evidence showing that participants in such forums can gain some of the same benefits of deliberation found in more heterogeneous groups (e.g., political knowledge, efficacy and trust), can consider a diversity of viewpoints rather than falling into groupthink and polarization, and can persuade external stakeholders of the legitimacy of the group's deliberations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses future threats for the U.S. and the means to face the future battlespace. It states that the U.S. has not been able to fight non-conventional wars in the 1900s due to factors such as the culture of groupthink within the military, the belief that technology is the driving force of change ignoring the power of religion and ethnic nationalism and ignorance to the rising tide of non-state conflicts and violence. The future battlespace is foreseen to be unconventional and can only be fought with better organized and skilled units.

Understanding the falsity of certain common beliefs helps students move toward better business ethics and a higher degree of moral management. This article explains one method for teaching moral management, by using ethical equation inequalities, and offers 10 implications and suggestions to managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the prevalence of social democracy as the political doctrine of choice among U.S. intellectuals in the early 21st century. The relative absence of adherents to classical liberalism in academia is noted, mentioning that such political beliefs as the decontrolling of markets and personal choices, the reduction of the welfare state, and the depoliticization of society are largely absent among U.S. intellectuals. The popularity of social democratic beliefs such as the pursuit of collective policies and endeavors is also noted.

In this experiment, we examine depersonalized ingroup trust as a function of group importance and anxiety. We expected that depersonalized ingroup trust would be stronger in more important social groups. We further predicted that anxiety would moderate the relationship between group importance and depersonalized ingroup trust, so that in high-importance social groups, but not within low-importance social groups, anxiety would increase depersonalized ingroup trust. By contrast, for low importance groups, anxiety should not affect depersonalized trust, but should increase interpersonal trust instead. These predictions were supported, even after controlling for baseline levels of general trust in others as well as for the presence of non-anxiety emotion states. The article discusses the theoretical and empirical links between anxiety, uncertainty, and decisions to trust in collective contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of shared cognition on group member satisfaction and group task performance. The hypotheses are that groups who have shared cognition concerning communication rules, such as politeness and efficiency, will be more satisfied with their group processes and will perform a task better than will those in groups lacking shared cognition concerning communication rules. The research involved 67 groups (N = 236) performing a radio assembly task for 20 minutes. Group members in the shared cognition condition received the same instructions to communicate politely (or efficiently). In the non-shared cognition condition, some members in a group received instructions to communicate politely and other members in the same group received instructions to communicate efficiently. The data are consistent with the part of the hypothesis relating to satisfaction but not to the one relating to performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective communication has been defined as those interactions between teammates that result in enhanced team attributes and/or functioning. According to the conceptual framework of Social Exchange Theories, these exchanges should result in a wide variety of outcomes. The current research investigated the relationships between team communication and athletic satisfaction. Seventy-nine team sport athletes (41 men, 38 women) completed the Scale for Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS) and the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ). Set correlation revealed several significant relationships between the SECTS and ASQ. These results offer further support to the meaning and significance of ‘effective’ intrateam communication in sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative effects of sharing mental models (typically defined as declarative knowledge structures) and sharing procedural knowledge on team process and performance were assessed. Forty-eight students completed a series of missions as two-person teams using a PC-based tank simulation. The results showed some support for earlier findings. Shared and accurate mental models of the task were related to team process, which was in turn related to team performance. In contrast, shared procedural knowledge was negatively related to team performance. Accurate procedural knowledge was positively related to team performance. Results are discussed in terms of the effect of sharing knowledge in teams on performance, and the implications for team training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors conducted an experiment to show how the interplay between informational diversity and other dimensions of diversity can account for some of the inconsistent effects of informational diversity in previous research. A total of 70 four-person groups involved in a decision-making task received homogeneous or heterogeneous information. By manipulating gender composition and bogus personality feedback, the authors created groups that were heterogeneous (i.e., had a strong basis for subgroup categorization) or were homogeneous on these dimensions. In diverse groups characterized by a diversity faultline, heterogeneity of information either converged with or cross-cut the faultline. Results showed that informational diversity enhanced group functioning when it was crossed rather than converged with the existing faultline, which became manifest in increased information elaboration, higher satisfaction, reduced relationship and task conflict, and a better team climate. Extending previous work, these findings show that informational diversity may have positive effects on team functioning even when teams are not homogeneous on other diversity dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the group formation process followed by Brac and Proshika in Bangladesh. Based upon field observation and interviews, it is apparent that the process of Brac and Proshika’s group formation suffers from internal contradiction in setting group objectives. The NGOs expect thegroups to remain principally focused on social and political change, but the group members’ objective is to access credit from NGOs and gain economic benefit. The NGO workers remain almost detached from the process and remain unaware of the real group objectives. This produces a gap between theexpectations of the NGOs and the offstage negotiated objectives of the groups. Despite this contradiction, the group approach clearly demonstrates the achievement of some desired empowering effects but not through the desired ways of the NGOs. Paying closer attention to the group formation process will help NGOs achieve their desired objectives better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development in wireless technology and the sophistication in wireless devices, enterprising mobile workforces have grown in recent years. Mobile workforces do not work at a fixed area in a company and they have to visit customers or sell their products in public areas. Therefore, it is important for these enterprises to properly allocate their mobile workforces and leverage their collaborative cooperation. In this paper, we present a novel mechanism, named the collaborative ART learning (CART), which drives social-awareness collaboration between mobile workforces in a public area (e.g., an exhibition center). Because of the characteristics of a public working space, this method is situated in a wireless P2P network environment. The mobile workforce peers self-organize dynamically into appropriate collaborative work groups to accomplish tasks on demand. With CART, each peer of a task group receives adjustments of recognized capability levels after the task assigned is completed. CART learns the way to organize fitting collaborative work groups through cycles of problem solving and work force status adapting, leading to continued satisfactory collaborative performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]