The present study investigated how type of interaction between groups affects intergroup hostility and how this intergroup hostility may be reduced. In the first phase of the study groups were led to believe that they were either competing, cooperating, or having no interaction with a second group. The results indicated that competition led to the…

The purpose of this essay is to propose a different explanation of collective behavior and also to hypothesize how communication functions in this process. Using the experimental finding known as the "risky shift," this essay (1) summarizes the history of the risky shift, (2) presents two different theories which have been proposed to…

Two experiments to study the development of the meaning of laughter in children are reported. A pilot study presented recorded audio tapes with both humorous and nonhumorous episodes, some with accompanying canned laughter, to 24 boys between the ages of 4 and 6 years. Observers recorded durations of laughter and smiling. Results showed that both…

By reviewing this analysis of the behavior of both groups and individuals in groups, human resources managers can learn to tell whether committees, task forces, and departments may be encouraging or inhibiting the work they set out to do. (Author)

Examines a study in which 15 freshmen and 15 seniors at Princeton University used 60 trait adjectives, 20 of which were student slang, to describe people they knew. Confirms that multidimensional scaling (MDS) reflects changes in semantic structure as a function of group membership. (MB)

Findings suggest that extroverts are more likely to be susceptible to behavioral contagion, i.e., spontaneous imitation of another's behavior, than introverts. (Author)

Provides an insight into the group process of therapy and compares and contrasts the T-group process with therapy group process. The here-and-now orientation was present in T-group and therapy-group interaction. Greater relational conflict was present in the T-group. Members of the therapy group were much more defensive than members of the…

Focusing on a group of drug users, this article examines behavioral and attitudinal coping strategies in paranoia and illustrates how the management of paranoia may create elaborate interaction rituals which serve both to "protect" group participants and to reinforce a collective orientation among them. (Author/EB)

Prior theoretical formulations have suggested that client exposure to levels of personal risk and responsibility most conducive to optimal group development can be regulated with group structure. Analysis of variance results indicated the highest frequency of therapeutically relevant behaviors occurred in the high-structure and high-risk-taking…

Designed to clarify the roles played by prizes as evaluative mechanisms in journalism, a study examined journalists' attitudes toward both internal (professional) and external (nonprofessional) reward systems and then examined the ability of both individual-level and organizational-level variables to predict these attitudes and prize-seeking…

This experiment was designed to test the motivation to perform a task for males and females in mixed and same-sex groups. Individuals in homogeneous groups (four males or four females) or heterogeneous groups (two males and two females) clapped their hands alone, in pairs and in foursomes. People exerted more effort alone than in groups,…

Designed to investigate intra-audience effects in a field setting, this study tested three hypotheses: (1) subjects who are exposed to favorable audience responses by confederates will display more favorable assessments than subjects who are exposed to less favorable responses; (2) subjects who are exposed to favorable audience responses will…

This paper summarizes and integrates the findings from three separate studies, all of which had as their major objective the investigation of differences in small group behavior between children who have relatively high others-concepts and children who have relatively low others-concepts, as measured by the Paired Hands Test. Group sessions of…