Quantitative Evidence of Students’ Use of Social Networks and Social Categorization When Self-Selecting Teams

Abstract

This article presents two studies aimed at understanding consequences of giving students complete decision-making authority to select team members for a team assignment. Study 1 concludes that students place a high level of importance on cognitively categorizing their classmates as those to approach and avoid when self-selecting teams, and they put forth a good deal of effort to actually approach some classmates and avoid others. The approach category forms for most students as they develop a team assignment social network comprised of classmates who are highly trusted and believed to be high in trustworthiness. Study 2 finds evidence that, in the absence of network members and prior knowledge of each other, students use social cues (style of dress) to cognitively categorize classmates and make inferences about their trustworthiness based on the category in which they are placed. Study 2 also finds that style of dress influences students’ trust in their classmates, preference for who they want on their team, and effort they would put forth to approach some classmates and avoid others. Implications and opportunities for future research are discussed.