THE PERCEPTUALLY PRIVILEGED GROUP MEMBER - CONSEQUENCES OF SOLO STATUS FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND WHITES IN TASK GROUPS

The effect of solo status was investigated in 32 same-sex small groups in which the racial status of one of the four members was systematica lly varied to reflect African American and White group majorities. Dur ing one task-oriented session, each group member made ratings of one a nother and selected one member to be leader on a future task. Judgment s of solos varied as a function of their racial status. African Americ an solos were judged more favorably and were more often selected to be leader than were White targets in both African American and White maj orities. More generally, these findings indicate that theories of rela tive numbers and salience effects that explain group processes in gend er contexts do not apply in the same way to race contexts. implication s of these findings for organizational settings, and interracial inter action in small groups are discussed.