Discussion and Perception of Information in Groups and Judge-Advisor Systems

Author: Swol, Lyn

Source: Communication Monographs, Volume 76, Number 1, March 2009 , pp. 99-120(22)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Participants were given information about three different vacation destinations to read before discussing them in a group. Some information was given to all three group members before the discussion (shared) and some information was only given to one participant (unshared). Participants were randomly assigned to discuss the issue in either unstructured groups or Judge-Advisor Systems (JASs). A JAS is a group in which one member has the role of decisionmaker and the other two members act as advisors to the decisionmaker. Participants in JASs discussed more information and repeated a higher percentage of both their own unshared information and others' unshared information than participants in unstructured groups. The hypothesis that others' unshared information would be rated as more important and valid in JASs than groups was not supported.

Keywords: Unshared Information; Information Sampling; Common Information Bias; Group Decision Making; Advice

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637750802378781

Publication date: 2009-03-01