Examined if making group goals of decision acceptance and quality explicit versus leaving them unstated would influence the decision-making effectiveness of male and female interacting groups. Explicitly stating that group members should strive for acceptance increased group decision-making quality and increased individual acceptance of the group…

Forty male and forty female high school students engaged in a group decision making task in both mixed-and single-sex 4-person groups of strangers. Those subjects who participated in a mixed group were also together in a microteaching class. The study addressed three questions: (1) What are the leadership behaviors of females, and do they differ…