The Effects of Extroversion on Influence in Ambiguous Group Tasks

Abstract

Although the generic patterns that groups follow in reaching consensus on problem-solving tasks have been examined in detail, little attention has been given to the role of personality in group decision making. One personality variable that would seem to be especially relevant to group decision making is the extroversion levels of the group members. This study examines the effects that member extroversion has on the group decision-making process. As predicted, it was found that participants with the highest level of extroversion in their group were more influential than other group members under certain conditions. Three factors were found to suppress the influence of extroverts: the existence of a dominant faction within the group, a lack of relevant task information, and an excess of task ambiguity. These results indicate that examining groups at a social permutation level may improve our knowledge of the group decision-making process.