cognition and group interaction: Need for closure affects the contents and
processes of collective negotiations. Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 35, 346-365.
Investigated the effects of need for cognitive closure on group interaction in two studies. In both studies, undergraduate participants in 4-person groups role-played the members of a corporate committee dividing a monetary reward among meritorious employees. The entire interaction sequence was videotaped and content-analyzed by independent observers. Study 1 investigated need for closure as both a dispositional and a situational variable (induced via time pressure). R. F. Bales' interaction process analysis yielded that both forms of this need were positively related to the preponderance of task-oriented responses and negatively related to the preponderance of positive social-emotional acts. Study 2 centered on the interaction process by comparing groups composed of members high on a dispositional need for closure with those composed of members low on this need. In the discussions of high (vs low) need for closure groups, there were greater conformity pressures and a less egalitarian participation. Results indicate that need for closure affects both the contents of member responses in a group context and the process whereby group interaction may unfold.
