Beyond the group mind: A quantitative review of the interindividual-intergroup discontinuity effect.

Abstract

This quantitative review of 130 comparisons of interindividual and intergroup interactions in the context of mixed-motive situations reveals that intergroup interactions are generally more competitive than interindividual interactions. The authors identify 4 moderators of this interindividual-intergroup discontinuity effect, each based on the theoretical perspective that the discontinuity effect flows from greater fear and greed in intergroup relative to interindividual interactions. Results reveal that each moderator shares a unique association with the magnitude of the discontinuity effect. The discontinuity effect is larger when (a) participants interact with an opponent whose behavior is unconstrained by the experimenter or constrained by the experimenter to be cooperative rather than constrained by the experimenter to be reciprocal, (b) group members make a group decision rather than individual decisions, (c) unconstrained communication between participants is present rather than absent, and (d) conflict of interest is severe rather than mild.

Group Decision-Making and Voting in Ultimatum Bargaining: An Experimental Study

“…Wildschut et al (2003) provide a "meta-study"of a large body (involving some 130 papers) of experimental evidence on what is known in psychology as the group discontinuity e¤ect: the general tendency of groups of agents to behave more aggressively than individuals in similar circumstances, whether due to social reinforcement of aggressive behavior, greater anonymity within the group, or fear of aggressive behavior by the opposing group. More recently, the issue has been taken up by economists and economic psychologists, who compared the degree to which group and individual play conforms to the game-theoretic predictions.…”

Reciprocal trust mediates deep transfer of learning between games of strategic interaction

“…In this case, there are incentives for players to be perceived as trustworthy even when they change counterparts after each round. Thus trust may still be a mediator of strategic transfer between games, though to a lesser extent, due to the interpersonal-intergroup discontinuity effect (Wildschut, Pinter, Vevea, Insko, & Schopler, 2003).…”

Influence of Intragroup Dynamics and Intergroup Relations on Authenticity in Organizational and Social Contexts: A Review of Conceptual Framework and Research Evidence

“…Procedural interdependence, which refers to the process by which members within a group achieve consensus (Wildschut, Pinter, Vevea, Insko, Schopler, 2003), is also a critical determinant of cooperative intergroup behaviour.…”

“…Group discussions can also activate normative pressure to act rather inautentically in favour of one's own group, as dictated by the ingroup-favouring norm (e.g., Wildschut, Insko, & Gaertner, 2002 Furthermore, anticipating an interaction with an outgroup activates fear and distrust of that outgroup (Wildschut, Insko, & Pinter, 2004). In a review of the literature, Wildschut et al (2003) concluded that when group members had to achieve consensus, as opposed to making self-congruent, authentic individual decisions, they were more competitive although feeling consciously or unconsciously more inauthentic and alinated. While the substantial body of work firmly established the interindividual -intergroup discontinuity phenomenon and identified moderating factors and underlying processes of influencing individual's authentic functioning, the particular goals and needs that members of groups experience at different stages of within -group development may also have strong affects on their individual psychosocial functioning and intergroup orientations.…”