Effects of group support system and task type on social influences in small groups

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of an empirical research on the effect of Group Support System (GSS) and task type on social influences in small groups. It examines task type with an intellective task and a preference task, and analyzes social influences in terms of informational and normative influence. The main findings are 1) informational influence dominated in intellective task groups whereas normative influence dominated in preference task groups; and 2) GSS amplified informational influence in intellective task groups and attenuated normative influence in preference task groups. The paper suggests further research using varying levels of GSS support and different task types to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of GSS and task type on social influences in small groups. © 1997 IEEE.