Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups
Abstract
Meeting of Minds: The performance of humans across a range of different kinds of cognitive tasks has been encapsulated as a common statistical factor called g or general intelligence factor. What intelligence actually is, is unclear and hotly debated, yet there is a reproducible association of g with performance outcomes, such as income and academic achievement. Woolley et al. (p. 686 , published online 30 September) report a psychometric methodology for quantifying a factor termed “collective intelligence” ( c ), which reflects how well groups perform on a similarly diverse set of group problem-solving tasks. The primary contributors to c appear to be the g factors of the group members, along with a propensity toward social sensitivity—in essence, how well individuals work with others.
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Measures of social sensitivity were the main predictor of group intelligence, more so than the cognitive intelligence of group members.
“For instance, measures of social sensitivity were the main predictor of group intelligence (ie ability to solve problems as a group), even more so than the cognitive intelligence of group members (Woolley et al. 2010).”
From Creating and maintaining high‐performing collaborative research teams: the importance of diversity and interpersonal skills (2014) · cites this paper as Woolley et al. 2010
Teams with high social sensitivity, deep emotional engagement, and a high degree of diversity have positive research outcomes.
“Growing evidence from a range of studies and disciplines, with different types of groups, indicates that teams with high social sensitivity, deep emotional engagement, and a high degree of diversity have positive research outcomes (Stokols et al. 2008b;Woolley et al. 2010;Pentland 2012;Parker and Hackett 2012).”
From Creating and maintaining high‐performing collaborative research teams: the importance of diversity and interpersonal skills (2014) · cites this paper as Woolley et al. 2010
High-performing collaborative research teams require members with good interpersonal skills (social sensitivity and emotional engagement), which positively influence interactions and research outcomes.
“High-performing collaborative research teams require members who have good interpersonal skills (social sensitivity and emotional engagement), which positively influence interactions among team members that then positively influence research outcomes”
From Creating and maintaining high‐performing collaborative research teams: the importance of diversity and interpersonal skills (2014) · cites this paper as Woolley et al. 2010
Team diversity and interpersonal skills strongly influence research outcomes by affecting team function aspects such as communication patterns, problem solving, and group creativity.
“Team diversity and interpersonal skills strongly influence research outcomes by affecting critical aspects of team function such as communication patterns, problem solving, and group creativity (Bennett et al. 2010;Woolley et al. 2010).”
From Creating and maintaining high‐performing collaborative research teams: the importance of diversity and interpersonal skills (2014) · cites this paper as Woolley et al. 2010
Patterns of human brain evolution were influenced by collective intelligence.
“We suggest that patterns of human brain evolution were influenced by collective intelligence, a convergent characteristic of diverse group-living animals (Surowiecki, 2004;Sumpter, 2006;Woolley et al., 2010;Morand-Ferron and Quinn, 2011;Reid et al., 2015;Biro et al., 2016;Bates and Gupta, 2017;Sasaki and Biro, 2017).”
From When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants (2021) · cites this paper as Woolley et al., 2010
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- Authors
- Woolley, A. W., Chabris, C. F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., & Malone, T. W.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Union College (US)
- MIT Media Lab (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Woolley, Anita Williams
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2010-10-29
- Volume
- 330
- Issue
- 6004
- Pages
- 686-688
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2120220258
- Cited by
- 2,685
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 185 · 2025: 168 · 2024: 225 · 2023: 193 · 2022: 191 · 2021: 241 · 2020: 239 · 2019: 208 · 2018: 188 · 2017: 180 · 2016: 187 · 2015: 136 · 2014: 111 · 2013: 104 · 2012: 72
- FWCI
- 99.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-16-CE28-0004)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- collective intelligence, group performance, general intelligence factor, social sensitivity, conversational turn-taking, gender composition, individual intelligence, group cognition
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Female, Group Processes, Humans, Intelligence, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Regression Analysis, Sex Factors, Social Perception, Young Adult, Emotional Intelligence
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