THE INCENTIVE VALUE OF SOCIAL APPROVAL AND BEHAVIOR IN SMALL GROUPS

Abstract

In order to explore the relationship between approval-seeking motivation and individual patterns of behavior in small groups, a measure of the incentive value of interpersonal approval and disapproval for an individual was correlated with observations of behavior in four-man discussion groups. Interaction Process Analysis was employed in categorizing observed behavior as (A) positive social-emotional acts, (B) information giving, (C) information-seeking, or (D) negative social-emotional acts. Approval-seeking motivation was found to be unrelated to either category of social-emotional ("maintenance function") behavior, but was correlated negatively with information-giving and positively with information-seeking for females, though not for males. For females, approval-seeking motivation was correlated negatively with an index of tendency to be active and directing, as opposed to passive and submissive, in task-related activity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1963
Accession Number
AD0405566

Entities

People

  • John W. Mcdavid
  • Michael B. Lupfer

Organizations

  • University of Miami

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Governments
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Maintenance
  • Military Research
  • Motivation
  • Observation
  • Personality
  • Procurement
  • Psychological Tests
  • Psychology
  • Surveys
  • United States
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Theoretical Analysis.