Richard L. Moreland

Group Versus Individual Training and Group Performance: The Mediating Role of Transactive Memory

The task performance of laboratory work groups whose members were trained together or alone was investigated. At an initial training session, subjects were taught to assemble transistor radios. Some were trained in groups, others individually. A week later, subjects were asked to recall the assembly procedure and actually assemble a radio. Everyone performed these tasks in small work groups, each containing three persons of the same gender. Subjects in the group training condition worked in the same groups where they were trained, whereas subjects in the individual training condition worked in newly formed groups. Groups whose members were trained together recalled more about the assembly procedure and produced better-quality radios than groups whose members were trained alone. Through an analysis of videotape data, the mediating effects of various cognitive and social factors on the relationship between group training and performance were explored. The results indicated that group training improved group performance primarily by fostering the development of transactive memory systems among group members.

Socialization in Small Groups: Temporal Changes in Individual-Group Relations1

Publisher Summary In this chapter, a model of socialization in small groups is described. The model assumes that groups and individuals exert reciprocal influence on one another and experience important temporal changes during their relationship together. Three major psychological processes, each of which can be viewed from the perspectives of both the group and the individual, operate within the model. The group and the individual engage in an ongoing evaluation of the rewardingness of their own and alternative relationships. On the basis of these evaluations, the feelings of commitment develop between the group and the individual. The levels of commitment change in systematic ways over time, rising or falling to previously established decision criteria. When a decision criterion is reached, a role transition takes place. The individual enters a new phase of group membership, and the relationship between the group and the individual changes. Evaluation proceeds, often along different dimensions, producing further changes in commitment and subsequent role transitions. In this way, the individual passes through five consecutive phases of group membership (investigation, socialization, maintenance, resocialization, remembrance), separated by four role transitions (entry, acceptance, divergence, exit). In formulating the model, small, autonomous, and voluntary groups are focused upon, because these groups are quite common and have been studied extensively by social psychologists. The model has several advantages as a means of conceptualizing group processes.

Exposure effects in person perception: Familiarity, similarity, and attraction ☆

Two experiments explored the relationship between familiarity, similarity, and attraction. In the first experiment, subjects viewed photographs of faces at various exposure frequencies and then rated them for likeableness and similarity. Familiar people were regarded by the subjects as both more likeable and more similar to themselves. The effects of familiarity on perceived similarity were primarily mediated by changes in attraction, although some evidence of a direct link between familiarity and perceived similarity was also found. In the second experiment, subjects viewed the same stimuli at a single exposure frequency, and received bogus information regarding the similarity of the people shown therein. Subsequent ratings of likeableness and perceived familiarity revealed that people who seemed similar to the subjects were regarded as both more likeable and more familiar. The effects of similarity on perceived familiarity were almost entirely mediated by changes in attraction. Some of the theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Group Socialization: Theory and Research

Moreland and Levine (1982) proposed a model of group socialization that describes and explains the passage of individuals through groups. In that model, the relationship between the group and the individual is assumed to change in systematic ways over time and both parties are viewed as active social influence agents. This chapter summarizes the group socialization model, discusses theoretical elaborations and extensions of the model, and reviews some empirical studies stimulated by the model.

Time, change, and development: The temporal perspective on groups

This article reviews literature that takes a temporal perspective on groups, focusing particularly on the theories that guide such work. The temporal perspective is a process-focused view that treats groups as systems in which change occurs across multiple time scales. The review is organized around six themes that have been especially generative: (a) Time is socially constructed; (b) time is a resource; (c) time is a fundamental issue for theory and research; (d) groups change systematically over time; (e) group processes have temporal patterns; and (f) groups are complex systems characterized by nonlinear dynamics. The article closes by identifying the need for continued theory development and testing to better integrate the disparate theories and findings found in literature inspired by the temporal perspective.

Is stimulus recognition a necessary condition for the occurrence of exposure effects

Many theories of exposure effects involve the operation of psychological processes that depend on some form of stimulus recognition. Two experiments investigated the role of stimulus recognition in the mere exposure phenomenon. Female subjects viewed novel stimuli at various exposure frequencies, then measures of stimulul recognition and effect were obtained. In each experiment, a significant and positive relationship was found between stimulus exposure and affect, even when the effects of stimulus recognition were held constant. Thus, stimulus recognition was not a necessary condition for the occurrence of the observed exposure effects. The results suggest that the relationship between stimulus exposure and affect does not depend on the operation of higher order cognitive processes, at least to the extent that such processes are themselves dependent upon stimulus recognition.

Exposure effects in the classroom: The development of affinity among students

Abstract Affinity is a complex blend of familiarity, attraction, and similarity that strengthens social relations by fostering a sense of closeness among people. We studied the development of affinity among students in a large college course. Four women of similar appearance attended class sessions, posing as students in the course. To create conditions of mere exposure, they did not interact with any of the other students. Each woman attended a different number (0, 5, 10, or 15) of class sessions. At the end of the term, students ( N = 130) were shown slides of the women and measures of each womans perceived familiarity, attractiveness, and similarity were obtained. Mere exposure had weak effects on familiarity, but strong effects on attraction and similarity. Causal analyses indicated that the effects of exposure on familiarity and similarity were mediated by its effects on atrraction. The potential role of affinity in several kinds of social relations is discussed.

Collaboration: The Social Context of Theory Development

Collaboration plays a critical role in scientific creativity. This article draws on research involving small groups and interpersonal relationships to analyze the social processes underlying scientific collaboration. 3 stages of activity in collaborative groups are discussed: formation, performance, and dissolution. In regard to group formation, we consider the characteristics of the people who join, the conditions under which they come together and the socialization experiences they encounter In regard to group performance, we discuss idea generation, selection, and implementation, with special emphasis on how group composition (diversity) and group processes affect creativity. In regard to group dissolution, we discuss factors that lead members of collaborative groups to stop working together, including a reduced market for the groups creative products and conflict among members regarding group goals and the ownership of ideas. We next consider the role that intergroup processes play in scientific collaboration, discussing, for example, how such processes contribute to ingroup identification and increase competitive motivation. Finally, we conclude with some brief reflections on our own collaboration of some 20 years.

Alcohol and Group Formation A Multimodal Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol on Emotion and Social Bonding

We integrated research on emotion and on small groups to address a fundamental and enduring question facing alcohol researchers: What are the specific mechanisms that underlie the reinforcing effects of drinking? In one of the largest alcohol-administration studies yet conducted, we employed a novel group-formation paradigm to evaluate the socioemotional effects of alcohol. Seven hundred twenty social drinkers (360 male, 360 female) were assembled into groups of 3 unacquainted persons each and given a moderate dose of an alcoholic, placebo, or control beverage, which they consumed over 36 min. These groups’ social interactions were video recorded, and the duration and sequence of interaction partners’ facial and speech behaviors were systematically coded (e.g., using the Facial Action Coding System). Alcohol consumption enhanced individual- and group-level behaviors associated with positive affect, reduced individual-level behaviors associated with negative affect, and elevated self-reported bonding. Our results indicate that alcohol facilitates bonding during group formation. Assessing nonverbal responses in social contexts offers new directions for evaluating the effects of alcohol.

Socialization and Trust in Work Groups

Several theoretical analyses of trust in organizations have been offered, but the social context in which that trust operates is often ignored. Our analysis examines trust in work groups, with a focus on changes in such groups over time. Socialization is an important form of temporal change in work groups (Moreland & Levine, 2000). Workers move into and out of these groups over time, so most groups contain people in different membership phases. We are intrigued by the issues of trust that can arise for full members of groups with new or marginal members. One such issue is how much a group’s full members can trust its new and marginal members, who belong to the group, but are not fully accepted by it. A related issue is how much full members can trust each other around any new or marginal members, whose thoughts, feelings, and behavior must be carefully monitored and shaped before they gain (or regain) the group’s acceptance. After analyzing both of these issues in some detail, we close by identifying several other issues of trust that can arise in work groups as they change over time.