Collaborative Research on the Emergence of Social Order in Task Groups

南卡罗来纳大学SES-0957982Edward J.LawlerCornell University这个项目调查了为什么即使在存在合作条件的情况下，团队成员之间也可能不会发生合作，例如共同的兴趣和共同的身份。研究人员认为，人们与这个群体的情感联系是至关重要的，这种联系源于共同解决给人们带来共同责任感的任务。他们假设，在一个合作的小组环境中，具有共同兴趣和共同身份的人只有在参与给他们带来共同责任感的共同任务时，才会发展出情感上的小组关系。当这种情况发生时，人们更愿意为了集体利益而行动。这一假设在两个实验室实验中得到验证，这两个实验将围绕一项任务(连接度低或高)与(A)共同兴趣(实验1)或(B)共同身份(实验2)的互动结合在一起。在实验中，四个人组成的小组参与了涉及众所周知的生存场景的个人和联合任务，例如，参与者对几件物品对他们生存的重要性进行了排名。更广泛的影响：该项目解决了一个重要的普遍问题，即如何创造和维持社会秩序(合作、协作等)。鉴于全球化以及相关的经济和政治变化，这一问题在当代世界具有新的现实意义。人们在更远的距离与更多的人互动，所有这些都使团队关系作为协作和合作的来源变得更加重要。这项研究开发了一种方法来产生和维持这种联系，从而促进个人为集体或集体利益做出牺牲。它对如何跨越或弥合社会鸿沟以创造新的群体从属关系具有广泛的影响。

SES- 0956796Shane R. ThyeUniversity of South CarolinaSES-0957982Edward J. LawlerCornell UniversityThis project investigates why collaboration may not occur among group members even when the conditions for collaboration are present such as common interests and shared identities. The investigators contend that affective ties of people to the group are critical, and these develop from jointly solving tasks that give people a sense of shared responsibility. They hypothesize that in a cooperative group setting, people with common interests and common identities develop affective group ties only if they are involved in joint tasks that give them a sense of shared responsibility. When this occurs, people are more willing to act in the collective interests. The hypothesis is tested in two lab experiments that combine interactions around a task (low or high in jointness) with (a) common interests (experiment 1) or (b) common identities (experiment 2). In the experiment, groups of four people engage in individual and joint tasks that involve well-known survival scenarios, such as "lost on the moon," where participants rank the importance of several items to their survival. BROADER IMPACTS: The project addresses an important and pervasive problem, that is, how to create and sustain social order (cooperation, collaboration, etc.). The issue takes on new relevance in the contemporary world given globalization and associated economic and political changes. People interact with more people at greater distance, all of which make group ties even more important as a source of collaboration and cooperation. This research develops a way to produce and sustain such ties and, thereby, promote individual sacrifices for the group or collective benefit. It has broad implications for how social divides can be crossed or bridged to create new group affiliations.