The equalizing impact of a group support system on status differentials

This study investigates the impact of the electronic communication capabili ty of a group support system (GSS) on status differentials in small groups. A laboratory experiment was used to answer the research questions. Three s upport levels were studied: manual, face-to-face GSS, and dispersed GSS. Tw o task types were examined: intellective and preference. Five dependent var iables reflecting different aspects of status differentials were measured: status influence, sustained influence, residual disagreement, perceived inf luence, and decision confidence. The results show that manual groups had hi gher status influence, sustained influence, and decision confidence, but lo wer residual disagreement than face-to-face GSS and dispersed GSS groups. P reference task groups also produced higher status influence and sustained i nfluence, but lower residual disagreement compared to intellective task gro ups. In addition, manual groups working on the preference task reported hig her perceived influence than face-to-face GSS and dispersed GSS groups work ing on the same task. These findings suggest that when groups are engaged i n activities for which status differentials are undesirable, a GSS can be u sed in both face-to-face and dispersed settings to dampen status differenti als. Moreover, when a task amplifies status differentials, the use of a GSS tends to produce correspondingly stronger dampening effects.