| By: |
Abele, Susanne (Miami University, Department of Psychology);
Vaughan-Parsons, Sandra I. (Howard Community College, Columbia);
Stasser, Garold (Miami University, Department of Psychology) |
| Abstract: |
If decision-relevant information is distributed among team members, the group
is inclined to focus on shared information and to neglect unshared
information, resulting often in suboptimal decisions. This classical finding
is robust in experimental settings, in which the distribution of information
is created artificially by an experimenter. The current paper looks at
information sharing effects when access to information is not restricted, and
decision makers are very familiar with the decision task. We analyzed archival
search and discussion data obtained from business executives completing a
personnel selection exercise. Information popularity in the population from
which groups were composed predicted number of group members accessing items
during information searches and whether the group discussed the items. The
number of group members who accessed an item predicted whether information was
repeated during discussion, and repetition predicted which items were included
on an executive summary. Moreover, cognitively central group members were more
influential than cognitively peripheral members. One implication is that
collective decision making amplifies what is commonly known at the expense of
disseminating what is not. |
| Keywords: |
Information Sharing, Cognitive Centrality, Group Decision Making, Collective Choice, Archival Data |
| JEL: |
D23 D83 M51 L84 |
| Date: |
2008–12–30 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrs:sfbmaa:08-38&r=ict |