This study examined the impact of members 'task-relevant status (i.e., prior task experience) on the bias in decision-making groups to discuss more common (shared) than unique (unshared) information. Subjects reviewed applications for an assistant professor position and, in mixed-sex groups (two femake and two male), chose between two candidates. Either female or male members had prior experience with a similar task Experienced members (regardless of gender) were less predisposed to favor shared information in the mentioning and repetition of information. Consistent with expectation states theory, member gender (a diffuse status cue) failed to qualify task-relevant status effects. Although experienced members were not more successful than inexperienced members at persuading the group to adopt their preference, when they did win, they did so with less effort. Suggestions are offered for using status processes to understand the psychological factors affecting collective information sampling.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berger, J. , Conner, T., & Fisek, M. H. (1974). Expectation states theory: A theoretical research program. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.
2.
Berger, J. , Fisek, M. H., Norman, R. Z., & Zelditch, M. Jr. (1977). Status characteristics and social interaction. New York: Elsevier.
3.
Berger, J. , Rosenholtz, S., & Zelditch, M. Jr. (1980). Status organizing processes. Annual Review of Sociology, 6,479-508.
4.
Carli, L. L. (1982). Are wonen more social and men more task oriented? A meta-analytic review of sex differences in group interaction, reward allocation, coalition formation, and cooperation in the Prisoner's Dilemma game. Unpublished manuscript, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
5.
Deutsch, M. , & Gerard, H. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influence on individual judgment. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, 629-636.
6.
Dovidio, J. F. , Brown, C. E., Heltman, K., Ellyson, S. L., & Keating, C. F. (1988). Power displays between women and men in discussions of gender-linked tasks: A multichannel study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 580-587.
7.
Eagly, A. H. (1983). Gender and social influence: A social psychological analysis. American Psychologist, 38, 971-981.
8.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
9.
Eagly, A. H. , & Steffen, V. J. (1984). Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 735-754.
10.
Gigone, D. , & Hastie, R. (1993). The common knowledge effect: Information sampling and group judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 959-974.
11.
Hollander, E. P. (1958). Conformity, status, and idiosyncrasy credit. Psychological Review, 65, 117-127.
12.
Hollander, E. P. (1964). Leaders, groups, and influence. New York: Oxford University Press.
13.
Kelly, J. , Wildman, H. E., & Urey, J. R. (1982). Gender and sex role differences in group decision-making social interactions: A behavioral analysis. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 12, 112-127.
14.
Kirchler, E. , & Davis, J. H. (1986). The influence of member status differences and task type on group consensus and member position change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 83-91.
15.
Larson, J. R. Jr. , Christensen, C., Abbott, A. S., & Franz, T. M. (1996). Diagnosing groups: Charting the flow of information in medical decision making teams. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 315-330.
16.
Larson, J. R. Jr. , Foster-Fishman, P. G., & Keys, C. B. (1994). Discussion of shared and unshared information in decision-making groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67,446-461.
17.
Piliavin, J. A. , & Martin, R. R. (1978). The effects of sex composition of groups on style of social interaction. Sex Roles, 4, 281-296.
18.
Pugh, M. D. , & Wahrman, R. (1983). Neutralizing sexism in mixed-sex groups: Do women have to be better than men?American Journal of Sociology, 88, 746-762.
19.
Ridgeway, C. L. , & Diekema, D. (1992). Are gender differences status differences? In C. L. Ridgeway (Ed.), Gender, interaction, and inequality. New York: Springer-Verlag.
20.
Smith-Lovin, L. , & Brody, C. (1989). Interruptions in group discussions: The effects of gender and group composition. American Sociological Review, 54, 424-435.
21.
Stasser, G. (1992). Pooling of unshared information during group discussion. In S. Worchel, W. Wood, & J. Simpson (Eds.), Group process and productivity (pp. 48-67). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
22.
Stasser, G. , & Stewart, D. (1992). Discovery of hidden profiles by decision-making groups: Solving a problem versus making a judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 426-434.
23.
Stasser, G. , Stewart, D. D., & Wittenbaum, G. M. (1995). Expert roles and information exchange during discussion: The importance of knowing who knows what. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 244-265.
24.
Stasser, G. , Taylor, L. A., & Hanna, C. (1989). Information sampling in structured and unstructured discussions of three-and six-person groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57,67-78.
25.
Stasser, G. , & Titus, W. (1985). Pooling of unshared information in group decision making: Biased information sampling during discussion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 1467-1478.
26.
Stasser, G. , & Titus, W. (1987). Effects of information load and percentage of shared information on the dissemination of unshared information during group discussion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 81-93.
27.
Stewart, D. D. , & Stasser, G. (1995). Information sampling in collective recall groups versus decision making groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 619-628.
28.
Wagner, D. G. , Ford, R. S., & Ford, T. W. (1986). Can gender inequalities be reduced?American Sociological Review, 51, 47-61.
29.
Wittenbaum, G. M. , & Stasser, G. (1996). Management of information in small groups. In J. L. Nye & A. M. Brower (Eds.), What's social about social cognition? Research on socially shared cognition in small groups (pp. 3-28). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30.
Wood, W. , & Karten, S. J. (1986). Sex differences in interaction style as a product of perceived sex differences in competence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50,341-347.
