Using a three-variable design, this study investigated conformity to male and female group pressures among Chinese and American male college students. Americans showed a greater tendency toward anticonformity than did Chinese. (JB)

The results of these experiments strongly suggest that the occurrence of behavioral contagion depended on the relative advantage an initiator's action establishes over the other members of the group. (SD)

Forty members of service and social groups were compared for intervention in a simulated emergency situation during the experimental discussion. Service group members were more likely to intervene than social group members, and intervention was made more probable when group norms were made salient in the discussion. (Author/SD)

A classificatory model of collective behavior based upon perceptual dimensions was proposed. The four major dimensions found to underlie a domain of collective phenomena were identified as: (a) Violence, (b) Amorphous-Focused, (c) Anomie, and (d) Ideology. Potentially predictive aspects of the system were examined briefly. (Author)

Presents a study designed to contrast the effects of task-based and interpersonal cohesiveness on group performance of students. Concludes that high task cohesion helped group performance, while interpersonal attraction had no apparent effect. Finding that increased interpersonal cohesion improved task commitment, the authors suggest that…

Results obtained with three methods of measuring three functional roles in initially leaderless small groups were factor analyzed. Results are discussed in terms of role differentiation and on implications of generalizing results obtained through one measurement procedure to those obtained with other procedures. (Author)

Presents study results examining social pressure within sexually homogenous groups. Explains that cohesiveness, based on common beliefs, was established in half of the sample while prevented in the remainder. Reports that groups were required to reach consensus after conflict was introduced. Concludes that low cohesion groups showed the greatest…

Discusses the self-serving bias effect and its motivational explanation, which suggests individuals minimize other group member's responsibility for success and maximize it for failure. Reports findings of a study, involving 96 undergraduates, that demonstrates only partial self-serving bias. Considers how minimal feedback on attributions…

Presents a study that investigated whether the presence of a group goal would reduce social matching. Reports that when there was no specific goal, the participants matched their own performance to the performance that was expected of other group members. Include references. (CMK)

Investigates intergroup bias in achievement attributions in a sample of 15-year-old German and Turkish pupils in the Federal Republic of Germany. Found that ingroup attribution bias was limited rather than ubiquitous. Discusses the inventive nature of student explanations for ability-linked performance and the motivational consequences of causal…

Reports on a study of the impact of individual feedback on achievement, attitudes, and behavior in cooperative learning groups on 56 8th-grade students. Finds that individual feedback was more effective than group feedback and that individual feedback resulted in more positive relationships toward others. (CFR)