Impact of Prework in Dyads on Information Sharing In Groups

Abstract

One of the basic reasons for group formation is their ability to bring a variety of expertise and abilities at one place. It is expected that diverse information and expertise will be shared among group members and such information sharing would lead to better decision making by groups. With information sharing playing such a critical role in groups the why and how of information sharing has been the focus of group dynamics researchers and for a long time. Research on information sharing in groups can be categorized in two domains. Why information is shared or not shared in groups and how information sharing in groups can be improved. Stasser and Titus (1985) found that groups focus on common information during discussion and neglect unique information. Further, research found that inability to share unique information during discussion does not allow groups and take optimal decisions (Stasser and Stewart, 1992). Research also found that structured discussions lead to increased information sharing (Stasser, Taylor and Hanna, 1989, Hollingshead, 1996). Further, sharing of common information leads to mutual enhancement among group members (Wittenbaum, Hubbell and Zuckerman, 1999). Research has found that subjects were more willing to share information in dyadic setting compared to larger groups (Taylor, de Soto, & Lieb, 1979). Most researchers have often either focused on studying behavior of the groups or on studying behavior of dyads (Moreland, 2010). This research argues that the probability of unique information sharing may be enhanced by structuring group discussion such that there is prework among group members before they move to discussion with the larger group Experimental design was chosen to conduct this study. An experiment was designed to compare the enhancement in information sharing as a result of prework in dyads. A cross-sectional between-subjects design was used. Group of 6 members were formed to hold discussion and arrive at a decision. Members of the experimental groups did prework in dyads whereas members of the control group did prework individually. The experiment usually lasted for 60 minutes, in which the participants engaged in the task (40 minutes) conducted in three stages. Data was collected from 6 institutes. 40 groups were conducted with 240 participants across campuses. Results indicate that prework in dyads helped in enhancing unique and total information sharing at group level discussion. Further, it was found that groups doing prework in dyads took better decisions. Contrary to the claim, the study found that groups not engaging in prework individually considered more choices before taking decision. It was also found that mutual enhancement was higher in experimental groups. Satisfaction of the experimental group members with the group process was also higher. Limitations and future research directions of this study are discussed. The study has potential to impact both theory and practice in the domain of group processes.