Male—Female Dynamics in Groups: A Field Study of The Weakest Link

Abstract

This article develops an integrative framework for understanding genderbased group dynamics based on sex composition. The authors study decisions made by male and female members of a group to eliminate or promote other male and female group members. Study 1 uses game simulations modeled on the television show The Weakest Link to show how male and female players trade off individual versus group utility in a group setting and how such trade-offs affect group dynamics. They identify four patterns of sex-based group dynamics: old boys' club, queen bee, bounded rationality, and females as finalists but not winners. These patterns are part of a mosaic based on differences in sex composition and sex differences between male and female group members discriminating positively, negatively, or not at all against other male and female group members. The authors propose that differences in the degree of competition versus cooperation in the group, the initial sex composition, and the mean and variance of players' abilities by sex interactively determine which pattern will be noted. Study 2 uses observational data from The Weakest Link to test these predictions in a field setting. Implications for the motivational, cognitive, and strategic antecedents of gender effects based on sex composition of the group are discussed.

Deconstructing the collaborative impact: Article and author characteristics that influence citation count

“…For example, our categorization of collaboration as same‐sex or mixed‐gender does not account for sociological patterns such as “queen bee” or “alpha male”, which may occur when there are same‐sex members within a mixed‐gender group. For further discussion, see Raghubir and Valenzuela (2010) or Parker (2010). Future research might examine collaboration impacts through a comparison of solo publications to collaborative works completed by the same author.…”

The interactive influences of conflict, task interdependence and cooperation on perceptions of virtualness in co-located teams

“…In addition, larger groups may have more difficulty getting the entire group together for face-to-face meetings. Because past research has shown that gender may affect group communication and group dynamics (Raghubir and Valenzuela, 2010), we controlled for gender with male being 1 and female being 0. We also controlled for student grade point average (GPA), as the drive for students to get better grades may influence their behavior.…”