The pres ent study exam ined the effects of pub lic self-focus and par tic i pants

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Laboratory groups attempted to reach consensus on a simulated business problem. Members of 4-person groups received information on whether three proposed systems met each of IO desired criteria. Cast as a hidden profile problem, the information was distributed unevenly within the group. Groups communicated using one ofthreeformats:face-to-face, teleconference, or electronic chat. As predicted, cognitive workload was significantly higher andfewer correct decisions were obtained in the electronic chat condition versus the other twoformats. The electronic chat medium limited participants' ability to coordinate and verify information. Electronic chat should be combined with collaboration technology or groupware that facilitates information storage, organization, and processing.

This study was undertaken to determine when U.S. children begin to self-handicap, that is, to reduce preparation effort before evaluations rather than applying themselves to do their best. The personal variables examined for their impact on practice behavior were gender, grade level, and self-esteem. The situational variables were time of the self-esteem test (before or after the evaluation task) and importance of the evaluation task. The results showed that (a) the 6th-grade boys were more likely than the 6th-grade girls to self-handicap, (b) the 3rd-grade children were not as affected as the 6th-grade children by the self-evaluation implications of performance evaluations, (c) self-handicapping by low-self-esteem and high-self-esteem 6th graders depended on recent experiences, and (d) the self-affirming experience of a self-esteem test reduced the motivation to self-handicap among high-self-esteem 6th-grade boys.

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