Information pooling: When it impacts group decision making.

Abstract

Three-person groups decided which of 2 professors was nominated for a teaching award. Prior to discussion, half of the information available for this decision was given to every group member (shared information), whereas the rest was evenly divided among them (unshared information). Further, this information was distributed in such a way that the correct choice was not obvious to members prior to discussion. As predicted, discussion focused more on members' shared than unshared information. However, decision quality was affected only by the amount of unshared information discussed and hy member's prediscussion choice preferences. The amount of shared information discussed did not affect decision quality. These results suggest a dual-process model of how the prediscussion distribution of decision-relevant information impacts group decision-making effectiveness.

Cites (2)

1. Pooling of Unshared Information in Group Decision Making: Biased Information Sampling During Discussion
   Stasser, Garold, Titus, William · 1985 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
2. Discussion of shared and unshared information in decision-making groups.
   Larson, James R., Foster-Fishman, Pennie G., Keys, Christopher B. · 1994 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Show all 2 references

Cited by (8)

1. What Differences Make a Difference?: The Promise and Reality of Diverse Teams in Organizations
   Mannix, Elizabeth, Neale, Margaret A. · 2005 · Psychological Science in the Public Interest
2. Information sharing and team performance: A meta-analysis
   Mesmer-Magnus, Jessica R., DeChurch, Leslie A. · 2009 · Journal of Applied Psychology
3. Power reduces the press of the situation: Implications for creativity, conformity, and dissonance.
   Galinsky, Adam D., Magee, Joe C., Gruenfeld, Deborah H, Whitson, Jennifer A., Liljenquist, Katie A. · 2008 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
4. Motivated Information Processing in Group Judgment and Decision Making
   De Dreu, Carsten K. W., Nijstad, Bernard A., van Knippenberg, Daan · 2008 · Personality and Social Psychology Review
5. A meta-analytic investigation of virtuality and information sharing in teams
   Mesmer-Magnus, Jessica R., DeChurch, Leslie A., Jimenez-Rodriguez, Miliani, Wildman, Jessica, Shuffler, Marissa · 2011 · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

See all 245