An experimental test of the effects of "developmental" vs. "free" discussions on the quality of group decisions

Abstract

A "developmental" and a "free" type of discussion leadership were compared with respect to the degree to which they influence the quality and unanimity of group decisions. Small groups of students were asked to make a decision involving the wisdom of promoting a particular employee to a new job. The "high quality" decision was reached about twice as frequently in the "developmental" discussion groups as in the "free" discussion groups, but no significant difference was obtained with respect to group unanimity. The writers believe that these "findings apply only to problems in which emotional involvement is not an important aspect of the problem… with other types of problems the 'free' type of discussion may be more effective… ." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)