Interaction and Influence in Small Group Decision Making

Interaction and Influence in Small Group Decision Making examines the current literature on the role of participation in small group outcomes. The book addresses seminal small group research and traces its legacy to current work, providing a context for the assumptions and directions of today’s leading-edge research. In addition to highlighting the contributions made during small group discussion, the book draws on work from important cognate areas including social psychology, sociology, and business, offering an interdisciplinary approach to the consideration of small group discussion.

The most outstanding feature of this book is its thorough and up-to-date presentation of research devoted to describing and explaining the process, antecedents, and outcomes of participation small group discussion. In addition, it:

• Addresses the important issue of describing features of participation in small groups.
• Describes research on the process of participation, focusing primarily on the functional and structurationist approaches to small group discussion.
• Examines research that links messages produced in small groups to characteristics of the group, context, and task or purpose.
• Includes research on status characteristics, as well as features of the problem
• Explores the relation between communication technologies and messages produced in small groups
• Describes research that examines the relation between participation and outcomes at a variety of levels,

Interaction and Influence in Small Group Decision Making will serve as a primary text for an advanced undergraduate course on small group communication. It will also be useful for master’s level graduate courses on small group processes. The book may also be used for sociological, social psychological, and business courses on small groups.