The role of individualism and the Five-Factor Model in the prediction of performance in a leaderless group discussion

Personality has seen a resurgence in the work performance literature. The Five-Factor Model (FFM) represents a set of personality factors that has received the most attention in recent years. Despite its popularity, the FFM may not be sufficiently comprehensive to account for relevant variation across performance dimensions or tasks. Accordingly, the present study also considers how individualism may predict additional variance in performance beyond the FFM. The study involved 152 undergraduate students who experienced a leaderless group discussion (LGD) exercise. Results showed that while the FFM accounted for variance in students' LGD performance, individualism (independence) accounted for additional, unique variance. Furthermore, analyses of the group compositions revealed curvilinear relationships between the relative amount of extraversion, conscientiousness, and individualism in relation to group-level performance.     

Who emerges as a leader? Meta-analyses of individual differences as predictors of leadership emergence

For more than sixty years, the leaderless group discussion (LGD) has been commonly used to assess leadership emergence and potential. This research focuses on individual differences as predictors of leader emergence in LGDs. Meta-analytic methods allowed us to combine and compare results from 45 studies, producing 196 effect sizes, and make statistically guided decisions about the strength of relationships between individual difference and personality variables and leadership emergence in LGDs. Consistent with more general research on leader emergence and effectiveness, we found a number of individual differences predictive of leader emergence in LGDs, most notably extraversion and authoritarian personality. This research augments previous meta-analytic research on personality and leadership with a focus specifically on the leaderless group discussion.     

The Quality of Group Decisions,Group Verbal Behavior,and Intervention

Individuals bring beliefs and knowledge to group meetings. Group decisions arise out of the exchange of these beliefs and knowledge. Because group interactions are mainly verbal, group verbal behavior should play a central role in determining the quality of group decisions, and process interventions should change group verbal behavior. Subjects were 168 new employees in a Japanese drug company, who constituted 42 four-person groups. Treatment groups received the Consensual Conflict Resolution (CCR) intervention that emphasizes a knowledge-based logical discussion and consensual resolution of conflicts. The group task was the NASA Moon Survival problem. It was found that (1) the quality of group decisions increases to the extent that group members exchange facts and reasons (defined as a "reasoning" orientation of group verbal behavior) and decreases to the extent that group members stick to their positions (defined as a "positional" orientation), and (2) the CCR intervention increases the reasoning orientation and decreases the positional orientation, thereby improving the quality of group decisions.     

LGD在选拔企业中高级管理人才方面的实证研究

本研究利用在为某企业人才招聘活动中提供大型人才测评服务时所收集到的数据,分析研究了无领导小组讨论测评技术的信效度。结果表明,在LGD测评技术中,评价者经过系统培训后,其评分者信度较高,但在不同要素的评价方面存在一定的差异性;在效度方面,通过多种途径的数据检验都表明LGD是一种比较有效的人才测评技术。同时,本研究还得出结论．与个性品质方面的评价相比,LGD在评价个人的能力素质特征方面更有优势。另外,结合本次人才测评的实际操怍经验．研究者还提出了有关LGD测评实施过程的应用建议。     

Prediction of Effectiveness in Leaderless Group Discussions with the Adjective Check List1

This study used Adjective Check List (ACL) scales and related four scales to individual differences in group problem-solving behavior. The ACL scores of 237 managers who had participated in a training program were examined in comparison with ratings of comparative effectiveness in two leaderless group discussion exercises.     

Divergent and Convergent Group Creativity in an Asynchronous Online Environment

This study examined the influence of various group diversity dimensions on collaborative creativity related to the healthcare system. Research findings on the association between diversity and brainstorming performance has been mixed. Diversity that increases cognitive stimulation or promotes elaboration has been shown to increase group performance. Participants exchanged ideas, replied, and elaborated using an electronic discussion board in an asynchronous fashion in groups of five over a period of 4 weeks. The groups varied in diversity of ethnicity, gender, age, and political orientation, but participants were not made aware of this diversity. Age and gender diversity were related to lower levels of replying to ideas and lower idea novelty but political diversity was related to increased replies and novelty. If a topic engages people with different perspectives to actively respond to others’ ideas, this can increase the creative potential of idea sharing in groups. Political or value-based diversity has the potential for creative solutions if the other participants’ political or value-based identities are not made salient.     

Information Exchange in Context: Effects of Gender Composition of Group,Accountability, and Intergroup Perception on Group Decision Making1

In the present study, the dissemination of shared and unshared information (cf. Stasser & Titus, 1985) in unstructured group discussion is analyzed. In previous experiments, several manipulations of the task itself were introduced, in search of conditions that could facilitate the exchange of unshared information. As such, these studies neglected the potential impact of context variables on group performance. In the present study, the effects of accountability, intergroup perception, and gender composition of group on information exchange are investigated. The results indicate that heterogeneous groups exchanged more information when a second group was present. Information exchange was not promoted by the presence of an outgroup for homogeneous groups. Groups in the accountability condition displayed more difficulties to reach agreement, but this did not lead to the mentioning of more information.     

Incremental Validity of Leaderless Group Discussion Ratings Over and Above General Mental Ability and Personality in Predicting Promotion

Leaderless group discussions (LGDs) constitute one of the oldest assessment center exercises. In recent times, their added value has sometimes been questioned in light of trends to streamline assessment centers. The purpose of the present study is to examine the incremental validity of LGD ratings over cognitive ability scores and personality ratings for the prediction of extrinsic career success (i.e., promotion speed and number of promotions). We investigated this issue in the context of the promotion of French naval officers (N = 93) in an academy for high‐level executive positions over a 10‐year period. Results indicated that LGD ratings accounted for incremental variance in the prediction of promotion criterion measures, beyond cognitive ability and personality test scores. These results confirm that LGD ratings provide a unique contribution to the prediction of extrinsic career success in high‐level executive positions.     

Examination of the Discriminant,Convergent, and Criterion‐Related Validity of Self‐Ratings on the Emotional Competence Inventory

We found that self‐ratings on the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) had small relationships with, but a distinct factor structure from, the Big‐Five personality dimensions. ECI self‐ratings were unrelated to academic performance and general mental ability. ECI self‐ratings had significant, albeit small, correlations with EC‐related behaviors and peer nominations of influence during a leaderless group discussion, coworkers' ratings of managerial skills, and number of promotions received. However, with one exception, these significant relationships disappeared after controlling for personality and age.     

Group Composition,Creative Synergy,and Group Performance

Organizations use groups to improve performance on tasks that require problem solving. Is this belief in the problem solving benefits of groups misplaced given the process-losses often experienced by brainstorming groups? This study of 94 intact autonomous work groups performing multi-part tasks revealed that group creative performance increased multiplicatively (exponentially) with the number of highly creative group members composing the group. However, this occurred only when Team Creativity-Relevant Processes (TCRP) within the group were relatively high. When TCRP were relatively low, group creative performance decreased multiplicatively with the number of highly creative group members within it. When TCRP were about average for the sample, group performance increased only linearly with the number of highly creative members within a group.     

Personality,Autonomy, and Contextual Performance of Managers

This study contributes to research on assessment centers' (AC) external construct-related validity by investigating a potential moderator of the relationship between personality and AC dimension ratings. On the basis of recent insights in person-situation contingencies we hypothesized that individual differences in people's perception of situational demands moderate the relationship between personality and conceptually related AC dimension ratings. The hypotheses were tested with 108 individuals in two leaderless group discussion exercises. Results confirmed the hypotheses for two of the three traits (i.e., Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). In particular, people high on these traits who identified the situational demands received higher AC dimension ratings. People high on these traits who did not identify the situational demands received lower AC dimension ratings.     

Group versus individual performance on tasks requiring ideational proficiency (brainstorming): A review

In the experiments reviewed in this article the subjects are asked to produce ideas that are relevant to a given task request (e.g., possible consequences of a hypothetical event). After describing the specific task material and the performance measures used in the relevant research studies, some analytic background is given by outlining the cognitive resources required in this kind of experimental task and by listing the various factors that may come into play when subjects perform in groups (with discussion) instead of individually. We then review the studies comparing individual and group performance. In all of these experiments the subjects were asked to work according to the rules of brainstorming, which prescribe that participants refrain from evaluating their ideas. This procedure purportedly results in superior group, relative to individual, performance. However, the empirical evidence clearly indicates that subjects brainstorming in small groups produce fewer ideas than the same number of subjects brainstorming individually. Less clear evidence is available on measures of quality, uniqueness and variety. The discussion considers factors that may be responsible for this inferiority of groups. The role of social inhibition receives particular attention also in terms of suggestions for research. Apart from the group-individual comparison we review the existing research concerning factors that may influence group performance on idea-generation tasks.     

FULL AND ERRANT COACHING EFFECTS ON ASSIGNED ROLE LEADERLESS GROUP DISCUSSION PERFORMANCE

The effect of coaching on Leaderless Group Discussion Performance was examined. Thirty-six female undergraduate subjects participated in six-person assigned role leaderless group discussions. Trained observers evaluated performances in each discussion, which included two 5s from each of three coaching conditions. Ss in full coaching condition received extensive coaching on proper group discussion performance. 5s in the errant coaching condition received improper, but believable, coaching. 5s in the naive, or control, condition received no coaching. Results showed that 5s in the full coaching conditions were rated significantly higher than 5s in the errant or naive conditions. The results were discussed in the light of previous research.     

Putting personality in social context: extraversion, emergent leadership, and the availability of rewards

The present research tested relations between extraversion and emergent leadership among men in situations that differed in potential reward availability. Four-person groups of men engaged in a Leaderless Group Discussion (LGD) task and were randomly assigned to be evaluated by an attractive female observer, an attractive male observer, or not be evaluated. Evolutionary theories suggest that impressing a female evaluator in an intrasexually competitive situation should hold greater reward potential for men than impressing either a male evaluator or no evaluator. Accordingly, more extraverted men (who are more sensitive to reward cues) should display more group leadership when being evaluated by a woman than either a man or no one. Self-and peer ratings confirmed that more extraverted men were significantly more likely to emerge as leaders, but only in the female-evaluator condition. The results are discussed in terms of the interplay between personality, situational factors, and evolutionary principles.     

小学生领导力萌芽与发展的实证研究

摘 要 本研究以四年级学生为研究对象,通过话语分析,探究了八个无领导小组八次讨论过程中领导力的萌芽状况及其影响因素。结果发现,小学生可自发出现领导力行为,但只有两个小组会涌现出明显的领导者,并表现为独立领导和协同领导两种不同模式。对学生和教师行为的综合分析显示,学生领导力的形成与教师示范、反馈及同伴互动存在密切关系,这对学生领导力的培养具有重要的启示意义。     

The Effects of Group Discussion on Eyewitness Accuracy

Previous research on group performance in judgmental tasks reveals that groups are rarely inferior, and often superior, to the average individual. The present study examined whether this pattern of results extends to the accuracy of eyewitness reports of a crime. It was found that group discussion led to accounts that were significantly more accurate than the average individual. A requirement to reach a unanimous decision did not alter any of the effects of group discussion. Group superiority was especially clear in terms of the completeness of the reports and in estimations of the duration of the incident. The discussion considered the implications of the present results for the current practice of prohibiting group discussion as an aid to the preparation of testimony.     

Experimentation with Group Techniques with Ego-Disturbed Mothers

Abstract

Psycho–educational groups (PEGs) have been shown to be a particularly effective form of treatment for patients classified under the rubric of severely and persistently mentally ill (SPMI). However, recent surveys suggest that certain professionals, such as nurses and clinical psychologists, called on to conduct these groups may have limited to no training. This study tested three methods (self–instructional, workshop, and workshop plus clinical supervision) designed to provide on-the-job training to practicing clinicians. Specifically, training was based on two manuals; one that operationalized the basic knowledge and skills needed to run an effective PEG and the second being a commonly used PEG program for symptom management targeted at SPMI patients. Eight nurses from four adult units at a state psychiatric hospital initially received self–instructional or workshop training and then conducted a 12–session symptom management PEG composed of four to five SPMI patients (e.g., schizophrenia, schizoaffective or major depression disorders). In a second wave of additional training, nurses received workshop training or clinical supervision and then conducted a second PEG. Differences between training methods were assessed by nurse– and patient–completed measures that tapped the knowledge and skills emphasized in the symptom management and PEG (nurses only) manuals. Results indicated limited support for the superiority of the workshop method on the nurse measures alone. Implications for training working professionals in group treatments and assessing outcomes with chronic SPMI patients are discussed.     

Photographic Individuality, Breadth of Perspective, and Creativity

Individuality is valued in most conceptions of personality, but is seldom operationalized. The present research used photo essays about the self as the medium for operationalizing self-construals that are unlike others (i.e., are uniquely creative, abstract, self-reflective, and multidimensional). Ratings of these photo essays from two samples ( N = 183 university students) served as the measure of individuality. This measure was predicted and found to correlate in both samples with Breadth of Interest from the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI; Jackson, 1994). In Study 1, individuality also correlated with the JPI Complexity scale and with two measures of divergent thinking (unique word associations, and fluency on Wallach & Kogan's [1965] creativity tasks). In Study 2, individuality correlated with having more permeable boundaries, a nonprejudicial universal orientation, and imagining greater cultural diversity in one's future. Results suggest that individualistic persons take a broader, more complex and more creative perspective to their lives.     

面试考官的权重策略对评分和录用的影响

从个体水平研究面试考官的有效性是面试研究的一个热点问题．本研究对面试考官权重策略的类型及类型的比较进行了实证研究。研究运用线性规划策略捕捉方法,分析了公务员考试中28名考官在结构化面试和无领导小组讨论中的权重策略,研究了权重策略对评分和录用的影响,结果发现：（1）在结构化面试中存在三种策略,在无领导小组讨论中存在两种策略,这些策略大部分是规范的（符合评分规则的要求）,它们会随面试情景发生变化;（2）权重策略影响了考官的评分区分度和最终考生的录用结果,规范性策略具有较高的区分度和录用预测效度。研究最后对结果的理论和实践意义进行了讨论。