GROUP SIZE AND EMOTIONAL INTERACTION

THE DISCUSSIONS OF 10 GROUPS EACH OF SIZES 2-5 WERE CODED INTO BOTH THE BALES AND LEARY CATEGORY SYSTEMS, AND THESE SCORES WERE ANALYZED ACROSS GROUP SIZE. ALMOST ALL SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS OCCURRED IN COMPARING DYADS WITH GROUPS OF OTHER SIZES. THE MAJOR FINDING WAS THAT THE DYADIC GROUPS PRODUCED ONLY 3 AS MUCH TOTAL INTERACTION AS GROUPS OF OTHER SIZES. DYADIC GROUPS EXPRESSED RELATIVELY LESS HOSTILITY AND MORE TENSION THAN GROUPS OF LARGER SIZES. THESE LAST 2 FINDINGS AGREED WITH A PREVIOUS STUDY, BUT APPEARED MORE ACCEPTABLE IN THE PRESENT STUDY BECAUSE: (1) A LARGER SAMPLE WAS USED, (2) RAW DATA RATHER THAN PERCENTAGES WERE ANALYZED, (3) DISTORTING TIME PRESSURES ON CODERS WERE LARGELY ELIMINATED, AND (4) TIME OF DISCUSSION WAS INCREASED WITH GROUP SIZE, THEREBY CONTROLLING FOR INCREASING RESOURCE INPUT WITH THE SIZE OF THE GROUP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.