A motivational approach to information exchange in groups

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Kai Sassenberg
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2009 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 149096294

Groups have the potential to commit better decisions than individuals, if (a) the member hold different Information that is relevant for the decision (so-called unshared information) and (b) all the information available to the group suggests a different decision than the information available to each member. Research on this sort of situations that are operationalized in the hidden profile paradigm (Stasser & Titus, 1985), has demonstrated that groups mention shared information (i.e. information available to all group members) more often than unshared information. Resulting from this decision quality is not optimal. It has been suggested that beside the stochastic and information processing explanations earlier research focused on, the motivation of group members plays an important role. Therefore, it is the aim of the current research project to study the impact of motivation during group decision making in the hidden profile paradigm. The research program tests a self-regulation approach which considers goals and strategies as key factors. Results of the first funding period suggest that the individual information processing (i.e., the evaluation of information that is inconsistent with the own initial decision and the memory for new information) as well as the decision quality are affected by group members self-regulation. To be more precise, a security oriented self-regulation strategy (i.e., a prevention focus) and individual goals (i.e., striving for a positive image and a good personal decision after the discussion) result in more biased information processing and lower decision quality (compared to group goals and an eager strategy / a promotion focus). So far no impact of goals and strategies on information exchange and no improvement of decision quality as an outcome of these motivational factors were found. The few existing studies suggest that implementing strategies effectively in groups requires the fulfillment of certain conditions. These preconditions for the successful implementation of strategies in groups are therefore the focus of the current research proposal. To be more precise, how exactly the strategies and the group context need to linked, to secure that the strategies are applied in the group context. Two strategies (counterfactual thinking and regulatory focus) and three conditions linking the strategies this the group will be taken into account: (a) the connection between the strategy and behavior in the social context, (b) information suggesting that the other group members got the same strategy activated (i.e., social tuning) and (c) shared activation of the strategy as an experience that satisfies the need for connectedness (i.e., I-sharing).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Johann Jacoby