1989 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 143-154
The purposes of this study were to examine the effects of group member's fear of insecurity gainst group membership and of group leader's behavior on information-processing in group problem-solving.
In the first experiment, 16 five-person groups, consisted of three subjects and two confederates respectively, solved a problem in which a correct answer should be found out from a set of four alternatives by combining different information owned by each subject. The confederates attempted to induce a group to adopt a wrong answer that could be rejected if proper information were insisted on by subjects. Half of the sixteen groups were assigned to‘insecurity’condition, under which each subject was threatened by a possible electric shock which would be given if a negative impression was reported on his/her behavior during the discussion, while the other half were assigned to“control group”, under which each subject did not feel any insecurity. The results showed insecurity groups were less likely to reach a correct answer due to insufficient information-processing.
In the second experiment, 15 five-person groups, consisted of three subjects feeling insecure and two confederates respectively, solved the same problem as in the first experiment under the direction of a leader. Based on Misumi's Performance-Maintenance (P-M) theory of leadership, 15 groups were assigned to one of the three leadership conditions (five groups each), namely, a combined P and M, P only, and M only, while‘insecurity’groups in the first experiment were regarded as no-leadership condition. Operationally, P leadership consisted of emphasizing that as many aspects as possible should be taken into consideration as well as pressing the members to reach a correct solution, while M leadership consisted of establishing a free and participative atmosphere. The results showed an interaction effect of P and M, that is, P combined with M was found the most effective, but P alone was found to be the same as no-leadership condition. Some implications for‘groupthink’were discussed.
