Representations and Influence Processes in Groups: Towards a Socio-Cognitive Perspective on Cognition in Organization

Abstract

The cognitive approach of organizations assumes that there exists collective representations in organizations. We critically examine this assumption and propose to adopt a socio-cognitive perspective of collective cognition in organizations. This theoretical stream, that rejects the traditional individual/social dichotomy argues for the study of Social Cognition, which implies a change in the unit of analysis from the individual/social levels to interactions. A collective representation is understood as related to the socio-cognitive dynamics taken place between interacting group members. Communication and influence processes are then critical for the construction of a collective representation. The socio-cognitive perspective and the theory of social influence it proposes may offer new and important insights to everyday thinking and behaving in organizations. They requires however new methodological approaches to study organizational cognition.

Le rôle des cadres intermédiaires dans le processus de changement des collectivités publiques : pour un modèle dynamique de la construction de rôle

“…Cependant, donner du sens est intrinsèquement relié au contexte socio culturel dans lequel les personnes évoluent : ainsi, une approche socio cognitive de l'organisation permet d'étudier l'interaction entre l'individu et l'organisation (Allard Poesi, 1998). Cette vision interactive a été dévelop-pée par Moscovici et ses collègues en psychologie sociale : « l'interaction sociale est un processus qui forme les cognitions et les conduites sociales; elle s'attache à comprendre les déterminants de ces cognitions et conduites, et analyse les modalités de leur insertion contextuelle (dans le groupe) et individuelle (l'identité, les attitudes individuelles, etc.)…”

The impact of group interaction on shared cognition: An analysis of small group communication

“…Within knowledge representation, cognitive psychology theory tells us that individuals have cognitive schemas or mental models of situations, events, beliefs, and experiences that enable them to understand or make sense of the world around them (Allard-Poesi, 1998). These schemas provide a framework through which individuals can make inferences, draw connections, position new information, or restructure existing information.…”

“…The social experience-the sharing of individual cognitive frameworks-impacts the structure and content of the individual's cognition as well as the group's shared cognitive understandings. But shared cognition is not merely the summing of the parts, just as individual cognition is not purely intraindividual (Allard-Poesi, 1998). Every individual functions within a socially derived context that prompts to some extent how they carry out their cognitive processing.…”

“…There is strong theoretical agreement that shared meanings in groups come from group communication and interaction (Allard-Poesi, 1998;Goodwin & Fiske, 1994;Higgins, 1992;Krauss & Fussell, 1991;Tindale & Kameda, 2000). However, little empirical work has been done to identify more precisely what aspects of the interaction prove to be influential in the development of shared cognition.…”

Implementing asset management inside infrastructure agencies

“…As such, it harnesses the technical quality of a causal map in order to identify differences in cognition. In this endeavor, researchers argue that a causal map reflects dominant logics since it identifies views shared among individuals who own a decision problem (Allard Poesi, 1998;Ginsberg, 1990). Researchers justify this application by arguing that a shared view impacts on individual views.…”