COHESION AND RESPECT - AN EXAMINATION OF GROUP DECISION-MAKING IN SOCIAL AND ESCALATION DILEMMAS

Our experiment analyzes situations in which a group engages in two dil emmas, a social dilemma and an escalation dilemma, in one of two order s. Some of the groups were composed of long-time friends (high cohesio n); other groups were composed of unacquainted individuals (low cohesi on). Further, some were accorded high respect from relevant authoritie s; in contrast, others were not treated with respect. Groups of friend s were more likely to cooperate by contributing to a greater degree in the social dilemma task than were groups of nonfriends. Groups high i n cohesion but low in respect were more likely to escalate their commi tment to a losing course of action in an escalation dilemma compared t o other groups. There appear to be two distinct types of group identit y: one based on cohesion and the other based on respect. Cohesion-base d identity remained high and relatively constant across the two tasks among groups of friends, but declined over time among groups of nonfri ends. Both cohesion-based identity and respect-based identity dropped precipitously following social dilemma tasks, but increased consistent ly following escalation dilemmas. (C) 1998 Academic Press.