The Process of Eliminating Status Generalization
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A formal theory is developed to describe when decision-making in informal task groups is not affected by group members' status identities. The theory is used to derive functions which express the equivalence of two conditions: one in which a status and a performance variable may have an effect on task decision-making, and one in which only a performance variable may have such an effect. To evaluate the predicted equivalence we examine the decision-making process by taking the total derivatives. It was predicted that there would be no significant differences in comparing derivatives for (1) High Performance and High Performance-Low Status treatments, and for (2) Low Performance and Low Performance-High Status treatments. Data supported the first prediction but not the second. Theoretical implications are discussed. 1984 Oxford University Press.