Coordination in Small Groups: Matching and Mismatching

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Effective coordination is necessary for social interactions as varied as conversation among friends, driving and walking in high-traffic areas, playing sports and working in teams. This project distinguishes between two types of coordination -tacit and explicit coordination while distinguishing matching from mismatching problems. In matching, it is mutually beneficial for actors to choose the same action. Conversely, in mismatching, it is mutually beneficial for actors to choose different actions (e.g., divisions of labor in work teams). Matching and mismatching are expected to foster different interpersonal impression and feelings. These expectations are based on a model that integrates social categorization theory and the concept of focal points from behavioral economics. The proposed work uses a combination of computational modeling and empirical studies. This project will explore 1) how people use social knowledge to coordinate tacitly with others; 2) how successful matching and mismatching emerges over repeated interactions; and 3) how coordination success on matching and mismatching problems affect subsequent interpersonal impressions and team performances. The planned experiments will examine the conditions under which coordination does and does not foster cohesion. Ultimately, the PIs plan to : a) model the effects of task and social factors and decision rules on the development of coordinated matching and mismatching, b) use the modeling results to design efficiently empirical studies with live participants, and c) refine the computational model based on the empirical findings. Findings from the proposed research should contribute to both economic and psychological theorists. The use of a psychologically-themed simulation to represent theoretical assumptions and to derive predictions is both novel and exemplary.