抄録
Problem: To determine the effects of cooperative and competitive situations upon the consensus and change of opinions in a group.
Subjects: 14 experimental groups were established; each group was composed of ten female college students. Seven group were assigned to cooperative situation, others to competitive situation.
Procedure: The students individually rated six personality traits of professors in the order of their desirability for the college education of women. Members of each group were then asked to discuss and evaluate those personality traits and to make final group decision as regards to desirable traits. Before discussion, the members of the cooperative group were told that the group would be rated in the relative goodnesss of the discussion techniques of the group in comparison with those of the other group. The members of the competitive group were told that their discussion techniques in comparison with the other members of this group. After discussion the students as individuals were again asked to rate the six personality traits of profes ors.
Result: The amount of agreement of opinions before discussion was almost the same in both groups.
The amount of agreement after discussion in the cooperative groups was significantly larger than that in the competitive groups. The members of the cooperative groups changed their opinion more toward the group decision after discussion than those of the competitive groups.
