There has been mixed research evidence for an hypothesized greater reinforcement value associated with democratically supervised work, although supervisory style, both autocratic and democratic, and its effects on group productivity have been the subjects of extensive investigations in industrial and social psychology. The effects of supervisory style and social need level upon group productivity were examined with 54 undergraduates who were placed into 18 groups of 3 students each on the basis of either low, moderate, or high FIRO-B social need scores. Three groups in each social need condition received either autocratic or democratic supervision during three 50-minute sessions of a group puzzle-solving task. Verbal interactions were recorded using the Bales Interaction Process Analysis system. Autocratically supervised groups were consistently more productive than democratic groups across all social need levels. Low social need groups were more productive than moderate or high groups. The quantity of group verbal interactions appeared directly related to social need level. Verbal interactions for all groups were negatively correlated with productivity for most IPA categories, suggesting that autocratically supervised groups and low social need groups were more productive because they engaged in less conversation. (Author)