The equalizing impact of a group support system on status differentials

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the electronic communication capability of a group support system (GSS) on status differentials in small groups. A laboratory experiment was used to answer the research questions. Three support levels were studied: manual, face-to-face GSS, and dispersed GSS. Two task types were examined: intellective and preference. Five dependent variables reflecting different aspects of status differentials were measured: status influence, sustained influence, residual disagreement, perceived influence, and decision confidence. The results show that manual groups had higher status influence, sustained influence, and decision confidence, but lower residual disagreement than face-to-face GSS and dispersed GSS groups. Preference task groups also produced higher status influence and sustained influence, but lower residual disagreement compared to intellective task groups. In addition, manual groups working on the preference task reported higher perceived influence than face-to-face GSS and dispersed GSS groups working on the same task. These findings suggest that when groups are engaged in activities for which status differentials are undesirable, a GSS can be used in both face-to-face and dispersed settings to dampen status differentials. Moreover, when a task amplifies status differentials, the use of a GSS tends to produce correspondingly stronger dampening effects.