Howard B. Cleavinger and Dr. Kay H. Smith, Psychology
This study was constructed using a simplified commodities game in which groups of four participants invested in commodities ranging from $100 to $500. The higher the cost, the higher the rate of risk entailed and thus, a higher payoff. The participants were informed that they were participating as a group against other groups (a cooperative situation), or that they were participating as individuals against the group and all other groups (a competitive situation). Same sex groups were used in this study.
Previous studies, conducted by Dr. Kay H. Smith using this commodity game, showed that male groups performed very well under the cooperative incentive, but quite poorly under the competitive incentive. Female group performance was reversed with performance better under the competitive incentive (1972). Subsequent studies examined these results using an all-female study limiting face-toface interaction, also a study using only cooperative incentive, and studies using sex-typed or androgynous persons were also carried out always rendering the same results. The males continued to perform much better with a cooperative incentive than with a competitive one. However, the females did not perform better in any of the situations under a competitive incentive.
This current study used the same process as used in previous studies, but added another aspect. This study was constructed using a non-directive qualitative interview dealing with male and female behaviors in group problem solving under cooperative or competitive incentive. A researcher observed each participant through a one-way mirror during the game. After completion of the game, each researcher privately administered the qualitative interview to their assigned participant. In this interview they received feedback on the feelings the participants had at critical points throughout the experiment and their decisions and thought processes during the experiment.
A challenge encountered in the construction of the research was the modification and construction of this non-directive qualitative interview. Initial work with Dr. Ed Gant helped clarify how a qualitative interview is created and what types of questions are permissible. Most important in the creation of the interview was that the questions were not leading and would proffer responses detailing areas in which interest existed. After establishing a basis of how the qualitative interview should be constructed, we began the process of writing the questions.
The construction of this interview was much more difficult than initially envisioned. Many initial questions created research bias and were leading. After numerous drafts a final qualitative interview was completed. The interview was twenty-five questions asking for the participant’s impressions of the game, how they felt about their competitive or cooperative condition, what they were thinking at various points in the game, group and personal strategy, group support or dissonance, and feelings toward group members before, during, and after the game. The interview was standardized and run to establish validity. Once validity was established the male and female competitive and cooperative groups were run. All interviews were tape recorded and later transcribed.
Unforseen difficulty in the creation of the qualitative interview and its numerous revisions made the running of experimental groups begin later in the year. This made it impossible to complete the research as of yet. We have run a total of twelve groups, six male and six female, consisting of forty-eight participants. This leaves us with four remaining groups. These groups should be completed by the end of September, after which a qualitative analysis of the collected data will be performed.
Some problems arose which made timely completion of the experiment difficult. For each experiment run, we needed six researchers as well as four participants. Getting ten students to participate in a study lasting an hour and a half was difficult. Because of failure of many participants to attend scheduled experiments, many groups had to be canceled and rescheduled. If we had run all scheduled groups, the research would be completed.
This research should be completed within the year. We expect that we will better understand the reason why females perform more poorly in cooperative situations and will also help us to understand the reasoning used by males and females in competitive and cooperative studies. This research is something which can be built upon to better understand the dynamics of same sex groups in cooperative and competitive situations.
References
- Smith, K. H. (1972) The effect of varying reward systems on cooperative game behavior. Journal of Psychology, 80, 29-35.