Status characteristics and participation in small groups : effects on leadership
Date
1989
Authors
Garnett, Scott Edmund
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of status characteristics and participation on leadership in small groups. Based on previous research and expectation states theory, two new hypothesis were tested using path analysis. The first hypothesis was that those high on status characteristics would be high on leadership ratings through the intervening variable of participation. The second hypothesis was that those high on participation rates would be high on leadership ratings. The study employed secondary data from research conducted by Dr. Paul Baker in 1979. In the study, four, five and six-person groups were used to form mock juries. In a laboratory setting, these mock juries discussed a mandatory retirement case for up to one hour. Subjects were observed from behind a two-way mirror, and the number of seconds each person spoke was recorded. In addition, background information on four status characteristics (sex, age, size, and SES) was gathered before the study began. A post-deliberation questionnaire on leadership ratings was administered to all of the subjects after their discussion had ended.
The results indicated that a significantly large proportion of the variance in leadership ratings was explained by all the other variables in the model (R-squared = .35, p< .0001). The indirect effects of the four status characteristics on leadership ratings, acting through the intervening variable of participation, were .09 for SEX, .21 for AGEZ, .05 for SESZ, and .02 for SIZEZ, while participation in the first minute had a direct effect of .49 on leadership, controlling for the status characteristics. The final path model, for the most part, supported both expectation states theory and the two new hypotheses quite well.