Stephen J. Zaccaro

Cohesiveness and Performance on an Additive Task: Evidence for Multidimensionality

Abstract This experiment contrasted two predictions regarding the effects of two types of cohesiveness on the performance of American students. Task-based cohesion and interpersonal cohesion were manipulated independently. Results show that high task cohesion facilitated performance, whereas interpersonal attraction had no apparent effect on production. Increases in interpersonal cohesion did, however, result in higher task commitment and more frequent interactions among group members. A path analysis suggested that potentially beneficial effects on production of increasing task commitment were obviated by the increased conversation also resulting from interpersonal cohesion. These data suggest that cohesiveness should be conceptualized as a multidimensional rather than as a unitary variable.

The Effects of Group Cohesion and Leader Behavior on Subordinate Satisfaction

The present study examined the effects of group cohesiveness and leader behavior on subordinate satisfaction in a military organiza tion. A total of 203 cadets completed measures of group cohesiveness, leader initiating structure, leader consideration, and several satisfac tion scales. Analyses indicated that (1) subordinates were more satisfied with leaders who exhibited high levels of initiating struc ture and consideration; (2) subordinates in high-cohesiveness groups were more satisfied than subordinates in low-cohesiveness groups; and (3) leader initiating structure and consideration were more positively related to subordinate satisfaction in high-cohesiveness groups than in low-cohesiveness groups. The results demonstrate the necessity of including group process variables in leadership theory and research. Implications of the findings forgroup effectiveness are also discussed.

Social Loafing The Role of Task Attractiveness

The present investigation examined the hypothesis that internal group pressures to maximize productivity would moderate social loafing (the decrease of individual effort as group size increases). Subjects, working in either two-or four-person groups, were told to construct as many folded paper products as they could in a fixed time period. Task attractiveness, a determinant of productivity, was manipulated. As predicted, social loafing occurred in the low task attractiveness conditions. In high task attractiveness conditions, a social enhancement effect occurred where four-person groups outperformed two-person groups.

Excused and Unexcused Absenteeism in Normative Organizations Effects of Organizational Commitment, Rank, and Interaction Process

The effects of organizational commitment, organizational rank, and interaction process on two different types of absenteeism were investigated in college fraternities. Two predictions regarding the effects of organizational commitment on excused and unexcused absenteeism were contrasted. Further, the degree to which commitment mediated the effects of rank and interaction process on absenteeism was assessed. Results indicate that (a) commitment was related to unexcused absenteeism but not excused absenteeism, (b) rank had strong direct effects and weak indirect effects, mediated by organizational commitment, on absenteeism, and (c) interaction process was associated with organizational commitment and indirectly related to unexcused absenteeism. Several constraints on our conclusions and their generalizability to other types of organizations are noted.

Effort Attributions Task Novelty, Perceptual Focus and Cue Utilization

This study examined the effects of task novelty and attributional focus on effort cue utilization. It was predicted that attainment value would serve as an effort cue when tasks were novel to the achiever and when perceivers made attributions about their own performances. Outcome information was more likely to be used on familiar tasks and by observers. A second purpose of this study was to examine actor/observer differences in achievement attributions. Self-perceivers, yoked with observers, worked on either familiar or unfamiliar tasks. As expected, self-perceivers were more likely to use attainment value as an effort cue than other-perceivers. Other-perceivers were more likely than self-perceivers to use outcome information but only on familiar tasks. The data also indicated support for actor/observer differences in achievement attributions.

Learned helplessness and the generality of social loafing

Theorists have suggested that social loafing is an instance of learned helplessness. We argue that this explanation is unwarranted in the absence of evidence that social loafing is generalized from one situation to another. We report an experiment consistent with our argument. College students working in a group performed more poorly at a word-generating task than subjects working by themselves, but this social loafing was not associated with subsequent problem-solving difficulties or with sad affect.

Socially facilitated drinking behavior in chicks (Gallus domesticus): Relative effects of drive and stimulus mechanisms

The drinking behavior of individual chicks (n = 168) was studied in two discrimination situations when the individual was alone or with an audience of merely present (not drinking) or coacting (drinking) conspecifics. In one discrimination task, a familiar and an unfamiliar drinking tube (FU) were presented simultaneously; in the other discrimination task, two unfamiliar tubes (UU) were presented. The coacting audience received a familiar and an unfamiliar tube; their familiar tube was always unfamiliar to the subject. Subjects drank more when conspecifics were present, intake being highest in the presence of coacting conspecifics. Intake was higher in the FU discrimination than in UU. However, in the UU discrimination, individuals that were tested with coactors drank most of their total intake from the tube that was similar to the coactors’ familiar tube. In the FU task, individual subjects drank mostly from their familiar tube in each social condition. However, this effect was smaller for those tested with coacting conspecifics than for those tested with merely present conspecifics.