THE EFFECT OF SELF-SERVING ATTRIBUTION ON ATTRACTION IN ADDITIVE-TASKAND CONJUNCTIVE-TASK GROUPS

The prediction that the effect of self-serving attribution on personal attraction will vary according to task type was tested. Twenty-four g roups of Turkish students, each consisting of 1 participant and 3 conf ederates, received success feedback after having performed either an a dditive or a conjunctive task. Two of the confederates made either sel f-serving or group-serving attributions, whereas the 3rd confederate a ttributed success to the collective efforts of all group members. Foll owing these attributions, the participants filled out a form to indica te the degree to which they preferred each member as a friend and a wo rk mate. Self-serving attributors in the conjunctive-task condition we re less preferred as friends than the self-serving attributors in the additive-task condition. Also, the additive-task participants' ratings for other group members were systematically higher than those of the conjunctive-task participants. Thus, there was a main effect of task t ype for both friends and workmates.