Fostering climate change consensus: The role of intimacy in group discussions

This study examined if creating intimacy in a group discussion is more effective toward reaching consensus about climate change than a focus on information. Participants were randomly assigned to either a group that spent the first part of an online discussion engaging in self-disclosure and focusing on shared values (intimacy condition) or discussing information from an article about climate change (information condition). Afterward, all groups were given the same instructions to try to come to group consensus on their opinions about climate change. Participants in the intimacy condition had higher ratings of social cohesion, group attraction, task interdependence, and collective engagement and lower ratings of ostracism than the information condition. Intimacy groups were more likely to reach consensus, with ostracism and the emotional tone of discussion mediating this effect. Participants were more likely to change their opinion to reflect that climate change is real in the intimacy than information condition.

“Because the World Consists of Everybody”: Understanding Parents’ Preferences for Neighborhood Diversity

Previous research, primarily using survey data, highlights preferences about neighborhood racial composition as a potential contributor to residential segregation. However, we know little about how individuals, especially parents, understand neighborhood racial composition. We examine this question using in–depth interview data from a racially diverse sample of 156 parents of young children in two metropolitan areas. Prior scholarship on neighborhood racial preferences has mostly been animated by expectations about in–group attraction, out–group avoidance, the influence of stereotypes, and perceived associations between race and status. However, we find that a substantial subset of parents expressed a desire for racially and ethnically mixed neighborhoods—a residential preference at odds with racial segregation. Parents across race conceptualized neighborhood diversity as beneficial for children's development. They expressed shared logics, reasoning that neighborhood diversity cultivates skills and comfort interacting with racial others; teaches tolerance; and provides cultural enrichment. However, these ideas intersected with racial segregation and stratification to shape parents’ understandings of diversity and hinder the realization of parents’ aspirations. Beliefs about the benefits of neighborhood diversity were rarely a primary motivation for residential choices. Nonetheless, parents’ perceptions of the advantages of neighborhood racial mixing reveal the reach of discourse on the value of diversity and suggest a potential opportunity to advance residential desegregation.

Research instrumentation for studying levels and components of intra-group attraction in work groups attraction in work groups

The existing approaches to understanding the attraction and methods of its study are indicated. There are three levels of attraction in a small group — interpersonal, microgroup and group attraction, each of which includes three components — subjective, communicative and activity-oriented. In accordance with this idea a questionnaire of interpersonal attraction and a questionnaire of group and micro-group attraction were developed. Each of the questionnaires includes three subscales for measuring the relevant components of the attraction. To assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaires, a survey was conducted in 18 small production groups — primary structural divisions in organizations and in small companies. The total number of respondents was 200 employees. For each questionnaire factor analysis was performed and the internal consistency of the subscales was assessed. It is shown that the questionnaires have validity and reliability. It is proved expedient to separate three subscales in each questionnaire. The main conclusions are drawn and the possibilities of using the developed tools for research and practical purposes are highlighted.

Collision avoidance during group evasive manoeuvres: a comparison of real versus simulated swarms with manipulated vision and surface wave detectors

Coordinated group motion has been studied extensively both in real systems (flocks, swarms and schools) and in simulations (self-propelled particle (SPP) models using attraction and repulsion rules). Rarely are attraction and repulsion rules manipulated, and the resulting emergent behaviours of real and simulation systems are compared. We compare swarms of sensory-deprived whirligig beetles with matching simulation models. Whirligigs live at the water's surface and coordinate their grouping using their eyes and antennae. We filmed groups of beetles in which antennae or eyes had been unilaterally obstructed and measured individual and group behaviours. We then developed and compared eight SPP simulation models. Eye-less beetles formed larger diameter resting groups than antenna-less or control groups. Antenna-less groups collided more often with each other during evasive group movements than did eye-less or control groups. Simulations of antenna-less individuals produced no difference from a control (or a slight decrease) in group diameter. Simulations of eye-less individuals produced an increase in group diameter. Our study is important in (i) differentiating between group attraction and repulsion rules, (ii) directly comparing emergent properties of real and simulated groups, and (iii) exploring a new sensory modality (surface wave detection) to coordinate group movement.

The Effect of Followers’ Belongingness Needs on Leaders’ Procedural Fairness Enactment

An important component of ethical leadership entails leaders’ enactment of procedural fairness. The present two studies examined the role of followers’ relational motives as antecedents of leaders’ adherence to procedural fairness rules and explored the mediating role of attraction. In an experimental study, we demonstrated that followers’ belongingness needs influenced leaders’ inclination to grant them voice. This finding was corroborated in a multisource field study of organizational supervisors. Furthermore, these two studies demonstrated that the effect of followers’ belongingness needs on the enactment of fair procedures was mediated through a process of interpersonal and group attraction. We discuss the relevance of these findings for theories of procedural rule adherence as a dependent variable and for the literature on ethical leadership.