Groups with a strong sense of collective efficacy set more challenging goals, persist in the face of difficulty, and are ultimately more likely to succeed than groups who do not share this belief. Given the many advantages that may accrue to groups who are confident, it would be logical to advise groups to build a high level of collective efficacy…

This annotated bibliography includes sources of information that are primarily concerned with problem solving, decision making, and processes of social influence in small groups, and secondarily deal with other aspects of communication and interaction in groups, such as conflict management and negotiation. The 57 entries, all dating from 1980…

Examined relationship among amount of conflict experienced, the style of its management, individual satisfaction, and decision quality of small, task-oriented groups using 129 college student subjects in 24 groups. Data suggest a curvilinear relationship between the number of conflict episodes experienced by group members and the subsequent…

Full study of small group communication must include consideration of task and socio-emotional dimensions, especially in relation to group problem solving. Thirty small groups were tested for their reactions in various "ad hoc" conflict resolution situations. Instructions to the groups were (1) no problem-solving instructions (control),…

Investigated effects of an individual's ability to process information (conceptual level) on the choice of alternative verbal conflict behaviors (tactics) in a small-group context. Members of the higher conceptual level study group made a higher percentage of overall responses, while members of the lower conceptual level group used avoidance and…