Competitive Members in Cooperative Groups

23 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2005

See all articles by Andrea B. Hollingshead

Andrea B. Hollingshead

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business

Gwen Wittenbaum

Michigan State University

Gwen Costa Jacobsohn

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Samuel N. Fraidin

Gregory P. Joseph Law Offices LLC

Date Written: June 1, 2005

Abstract

The present study was designed to bridge previous research on cooperative decision making and on mixed-motive interactions. The structure of the group tasks studied in the mixed-motive literature is such that all group members simultaneously experience motives to compete and to cooperate and that all members accurately recognize that the mixed-motive reward structure is the same for everyone. In contrast, the present study considers that members' motives can also vary on a task that on the surface appears purely cooperative. We conducted a laboratory experiment using a cooperative group decision-making task and we varied the number of members who were also given competitive incentives (0, 1, 2, or all 3 members). We found that the preferences of competitive members were often adopted by the group. Competitive members reported engaging in more strategic information sharing and presenting their preferred alternative in a more favorable way; they also trusted other group members less than did cooperative members. The results of this study are consistent with studies of mixed-motive interaction that showed that in the absence of information about members' motives, group members often assume that other members have similar motives and engage in similar behaviors.

Keywords: Group decision making, competition, cooperation, computer-mediated

Suggested Citation

Hollingshead, Andrea B. and Wittenbaum, Gwen and Jacobsohn, Gwen Costa and Fraidin, Samuel N., Competitive Members in Cooperative Groups (June 1, 2005). IACM 18th Annual Conference, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=732643 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.732643

Andrea B. Hollingshead (Contact Author)

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/HollingsheadA.aspx

University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business

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Los Angeles, CA California 90089
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Gwen Wittenbaum

Michigan State University ( email )

Agriculture Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824-1122
United States

Gwen Costa Jacobsohn

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( email )

601 E John St
Champaign, IL Champaign 61820
United States

Samuel N. Fraidin

Gregory P. Joseph Law Offices LLC

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New York, NY 10022
United States