Training, motivation, and personality as determinants of the effectiveness of brainstorming groups and individuals

Abstract

Presented 3 problem-solving tasks to groups of male undergraduates in 2 experiments to (a) assess the influence of motivation, training, and personality on group effectiveness (using high or low interpersonal-effectiveness groups as measured by Ss' scores on 5 subscales of the CPI), and (b) compared the effect of motivation and training on the performance of real and nominal brainstorming groups, using individuals and groups low on the personality variable in Exp. I. High interpersonal-effectiveness groups were found to respond favorably to either motivation or training but not to both together. Low interpersonal-effectiveness groups were resistant to both manipulations taken together or separately. Nominal groups were shown to have a significant but only a slight superiority over real groups. When all previous studies are taken into consideration, the forced participation procedure used in this study resulted in a level of real group performance that was nearly identical to the performance of nominal groups. Results contradict previous brainstorming studies that used an unstructured procedure. (21 ref.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)