Toward a Group Facilitation Technique for Project Teams

This article presents the development of a group facilitation technique (PROMOD — Procedural Moderation). The author points toward the importance of integrating theoretical assumptions, theory testing and basic empirical research with practical application. The results are based on the observation of various three-member task groups faced with a complex non-heureka problem. These comprise naturally interacting groups, simple arithmetic assembled groups of individuals without any interaction (synthetic groups), and groups in which a group technique of reduced interaction which focuses on individual contribution through facilitated knowledge elicitation is applied.The task involves decisions on what to do after a plane crash and ranking objects with regard to their importance for survival in an alarming situation (Lafferty & Pond, 1974). The group decision quality is determined by relating to conclusions reached by an independent expert. Results indicate that the observed teams performed best when the PROMOD procedure was applied

Group performance: a confrontation of a proximate with an ultimate evaluation

"In this article, two scientific approaches are conjoined: Small group research and evolutionary theory. In the past 50 years, small group researchers have identified various deficits in group performance. Presently, how to improve group interaction is a focal point of their work. Meanwhile, social psychologists are paying more attention to evolutionary theory, and process losses in group performance may be evaluated differently from such a perspective. It appears that proximate performance losses could mean ultimate gains for the individual. A reduction in group performance should therefore be anticipated from a proximate perspective, because it represents an individual selection advantage from the ultimate view. As a means of intervention, group facilitation techniques are the key to proximate gains in group processes."[auathor´s abstract

Низкие затраты, низкие выплаты? – усовершенствование проблемы в группах средством электронной помощи

У статті розглядаються дослідження груп за допомогою техніки модерацій (PROMOD). У дослідженні було протестовано, чи може PROMOD покращити показник працездатності як групи, так й окремої одиниці.The aim of this study was to investigate whether PROMOD can also improve performance of teams and individuals in a virtual setting (N =180). Subjects had to solve an interpolation-problem (see Dörner, 1976) under facilitated and non-facilitated conditions while using a chat-program and electronic forms. Improvements were found to be significant in one of two performance-measures (p = .0245).В этом исследовании было протестировано, может ли PROMOD улучшить показатель трудоспособности так группы, как и отдельной единицы (N=180). К тому же, проблема интерполяции решалась в модерированых, а также немодерированых условиях при использовании чат-программ и электронных формуляров. Этот эффект можно было наблюдать в одном из двух тестов трудоспособности (p = .0245)

Justification of war and terrorism: a comparative case study examining ethical positions based on prescriptive attribution theory

"The aim of this study is to examine the underlying ethical positions of statements that try to justify acts of war and terrorism. Similarities and differences will be analyzed within the framework of empirical ethics research. With respect to the current political situation, examples of war and terror from both Western and Arabian parties and terrorist organizations are chosen. The cases are exemplified by selected speeches and explanations from (1) the American Government justifying the military strikes in Afghanistan (2001- ) and the war in Iraq (2003- ); (2) the Red Army Faction (RAF) justifying terrorist attacks that they perpetrated in Germany between 1972 and 1984; (3) the former president of Iraq justifying the war against Iran (1980-1988); (4) members of Al-Qaeda justifying terrorist acts between 2001 and 2004. In a first rating procedure, statements containing justifications of politically motivated violence will be identified based upon argumentation analysis. The selected statements will then be rated in a second process in regard to the underlying ethics. The justification patterns will be presented, compared, and discussed in respect to the interaction of culture and type of aggression. The results illustrate distinctive argumentation patterns for each group examined. The inference-statistical comparison reveals significant differences between the types of aggression as well as between Western and Arabian countries, whereas the cultural factor proves to be more essential." (author's abstract

Empirical research on ethics: the influence of social roles on decisions and on their ethical justification

"Two questionnaire studies try to answer the question if different social roles lead to different decisions and justifications concerning ethical problems. In study I participants were asked to decide either on an economic or a medical problem while going into a related social role, in study II role expectations were asked for. The decision had to be justified by weighing the importance of four classical ethical positions: hedonism, intuitionism, utilitarianism, and deontology. The results show that decisions and their justifications are dependent on social roles and partly on the context. The effect which is interpreted as stemming from social standardization is greater for role behavior. The differences between role behavior and expectation indicate a misunderstanding crucial for group decisions." (author's abstract

Small Group Performance: reinterpreting proximate evaluations from an ultimate perspective

"In this article, two scientific approaches are conjoined: Small group research and evolutionary theory. In the past 50 years, small group researchers have identified various deficits in group performance. Presently, how to improve group interaction is a focal point of their work. Meanwhile, social psychologists are paying more attention to evolutionary theory, and process losses in group performance may be evaluated differently from such a perspective. It appears that proximate performance losses could mean ultimate gains for the individual. A reduction in group performance should therefore be anticipated from a proximate perspective, because it represents an individual selection advantage from the ultimate view. As a means of intervention, group facilitation techniques are the key to proximate gains in group processes."[author´s abstract

Media and the contact hypothesis: an experimental study on the impact of parasocial contact

"Does parasocial contact impact on inter-group bias? Widening the scope of Contact Theory, this study aims at experimentally examine the impact of parasocial out-group presentation on decisions in a two-person prisoner's dilemma game and social cognitive constructions of the social event. Within a minimal group experiment, 80 university students were randomly assigned to anonymous or video-wise personalization conditions. Participants rather took personal advantage of expected contributions to a commonly shared dilemma situation in anonymous settings than if a member of the out-group was personalized (p<.05). As perceptions of group boundaries, out-group homogeneity, and similarity did not systematically differ across the conditions, implications are discussed." (author's abstract)"Hat parasozialer Kontakt Einfluss auf intergruppale Diskriminierung? Im Sinne einer Erweiterung der Kontakthypothese liefert die vorliegende Studie eine experimentelle Prüfung des Einflusses von parasozialer Out-Group Präsentation sowohl auf Verteilungsentscheidungen im Prisoner's Dilemma Game als auch auf sozial kognitive Konstruktionen des sozialen Ereignisses. In einem minimalen Gruppen Experiment wurden 80 UniversitätsstudentInnen zufällig einer von zwei Experimentalbedingungen (anonyme Bedingung vs. Video - personalisierte Bedingung) zugewiesen. TeilnehmerInnen in der anonymen Bedingung haben eher einen Vorteil auf Kosten des Mitspielers/ der Mitspielerin aus erwarteten Zuteilungen geschlagen, als wenn ein Mitglied der Fremdgruppe per Video personalisiert wurde (p<.05). Wahrnehmungen der Gruppengrenzen, Outgroup Homogenität und Ähnlichkeit variierten nicht systematisch zwischen den experimentellen Bedingungen. Implikationen werden diskutiert." (Autorenreferat

Social psychological research: the comparison of four journals

"Every scientific field can be described by its typical research focus or paradigm. These research paradigms or research matrices reflect what is viewed as “normal science” in the respective field. This study aimed to find out what defines the research matrix of the typical Anglo-American social psychology journal versus the typical German social psychology journal and why the “German Journal of Social Psychology”, that was founded in the 1970ies in order to enhance application orientation and theoretical integration in social psychological research, had to resign its publication in German and reappeared in English. Twohundredandthree research articles of 4 different journals, published in either English or German, were rated according to differences in their research paradigms. Structural differences in the profiles of these journals showed that the journals published in English take a rather empirical and quantitative approach towards research while the German journals seem to show a stronger theoretical orientation and a more qualitative research approach. Patterns of the unsuccessful German journal suggest a lack of consistency and individuality compared to the other journals." [author's abstract

The influence of personal proximity and framing on moral decision behaviour

"It is a truism that the rationality of a decision can only be analyzed through its context and the reasons that the decider had. This approach broadens the concept of heuristics, which underlie human decision behavior. It is possible, at least for moral decisions, to deduce all relevant heuristics from basic philosophical ethical positions. This thought interloops the explanatory power from the two decision theories of Kahneman & Tverskys (2000) and Gigerenzer & Selten (2001) to a model of context dependent application of incommensurable principles. To proof this claim the classical Asian disease dilemma (ADP), used by Kahneman and Tversky in 1981 to show the framing effect, was varied by degrees of personal proximity. The ADP was understood as a dilemma with a moral context. The variation of personal proximity influenced the answer behavior and led to a disappearance of the framing effect at interindividual proximity. The main reasons accounted for answering the ADP were of utilitarian and deontological nature. With increasing proximity hedonistic reasons became more important while utilitarian reasons diminished. Different framings were accompanied by different importance of intuitionism." (author's abstract

Can PROMOD prevent the escalation of commitment?: the effect of a group facilitation technique on an investment decision

"In the present study, the escalation of commitment was examined, i.e. the tendency to invest too much in projects, when to decide at a second time about a further investment in the same project. Many such investment decisions are actually made in groups. Thus, the group processes can be responsible for the escalation of commitment, because social influences often are more relevant for group decisions than informational aspects, which impedes rational decision making. A method to improve group decisions and performance is the group facilitation technique PROMOD. The experimental results support the presumption that PROMOD can also prevent the escalation of commitment by eliminating social influences within the group." (author's abstract