Effects of manning levels on subjective experiences, performance, and verbal interaction in groups

Reclaiming behaviour settings: reviewing empirical applications of Barker's behaviour settings theory

Behaviour settings theory is the product of Roger Barker and Herbert F. Wright's decades-long Midwest Field Station research programme. The theory followed from the demonstration that the best predictor of a person's behaviour was the setting (i.e. location, timing and activity) in which their behaviour took place, rather than any individual trait (e.g. personality). Now little known in psychology, behaviour settings theory is often further obscured by being presented as a theory only, neglecting the clear methodology Barker provided for investigating the question: 'What do people do in everyday life?' This literature review takes a comprehensive look at Barker's contributions both within and outside of psychology. The corpus comprises both theoretical and empirical articles; however, our primary interest is in the empirical articles. We describe the who, when and where of behaviour settings research over the past half-century, and we identify branches and neighbours of behaviour settings research (e.g. manning theory, behaviour mapping and activity settings theory). Primarily, however, we attempt to answer the following questions: (i) Are any of Barker's tools for studying people in everyday settings being used currently? (ii) How accurately has Barker's theory been explained, or his methods applied? (iii) Does such work contribute to behaviour settings theory in a meaningful way? This article is part of the theme issue 'People, places, things and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century'.

Personal Control and Crowding Stress

Current theoretical explanations of crowding stress have suggested that peronal control may be an important psychological determinant of reactions to the physical environment. Two field surveys were conducted to test the relationship of environment stress and crowding annoyance with personal control and to examine whether this conception of crowding may have cross-cultural generality. In the first study, 282 patrons in a bookstore varying between low and high density were surveyed in regard to perceived control, self-reported stress, and crowding annoyance. Simple correlations and multiple regressions analysis supported the hypothesized relationship for most elements of personal control. In a second study, 185 Singaporean high school students were surveyed relative to residential crowding as a cross-cultural extension. Support was found for the hypothesized relationship between personal control with crowding annoyance and stress. The implications of these results for drawing cross-cultural similarities are discussed.

Effects of relative team size on teams with innovative tasks

A large body of research accumulated on the consequences that absolute team size (i.e., team headcount) entails for the performance of teams working on innovative tasks. However, there is a dearth of research on team size in relation to a team’s assignments and objectives (i.e., relative team size). How this relative team size might influence innovation teams is therefore poorly understood. To stimulate theorizing on relative team size, we derive propositions from understaffing theory on how varying levels of relative team size affect teams with innovative tasks. We provide a more fine-grained analysis by differentiating between different dimensions of these teams’ performance (i.e., team creativity, output quality, and team efficiency) and develop an input-mediator-output model. Implications of our theoretical considerations and avenues for future research are discussed.

Understaffing

Workers often identify understaffing as a major stressor in their work lives. Despite this, relatively little conceptual and empirical work on understaffing exists. This paper describes a new, multidimensional conceptualization of understaffing, specifying that there are three dimensions underlying the understaffing domain: severity of (under)staffing, type of resource shortage, and length of exposure. Drawing upon theory and research on workplace demands and self-regulation, we further argue that different types of understaffing are differentially related to workplace outcomes. After specifying what understaffing is, we then compare and contrast understaffing with conceptually similar or related constructs in the industrial-organizational/organizational behavior (IO/OB) literature to assist in explaining what understaffing is not. Finally, we address practical issues in the study and measurement of understaffing. Implications for future research and theory are discussed.

Using the stepladder technique to facilitate the performance of audioconferencing groups

Organizational workforces are becoming increasingly dispersed. To facilitate communications among individuals or groups of people located in a number of different locations, teleconferencing technologies, such as audioconferencing, have been developed. The authors examined whether a structural group intervention, the stepladder technique, can facilitate the task performance of 4-person groups (n = 52) when using audioconferencing. Consistent with research conducted on face-to-face groups, the stepladder technique was found to facilitate the decision-making performance of groups interacting via audioconference. The authors postulated that certain structural elements of the stepladder technique compensate for obstacles inherent in nonvisual communications. Supplementary analyses examined best member influence and the existence of order of entry effects into the stepladder process.

Effects of game structure on boys' satisfaction and participation

Inhabiting level is defined as the number of tasks to be performed in a setting in relation to the number of people who will perform those tasks and has been found to influence the behaviors and psychological experiences of participants. In this study, the structural organization of a children's game was manipulated to create three different levels of inhabiting. Boys (n = 108) were classified as having low, medium, or high throwing skills. Teams consisting of one player from each skill level were created using stratified random sampling. Teams then played an underinhabited game (two ongoing tasks per player), an adequately inhabited game (one ongoing task per player), and an overinhabited game (one task rotated among three players). Satisfaction with each game was measured by a questionnaire following play. Observational rating scales were used to assess players' degree of involvement and affective expression during play. Boys reported significantly greater satisfaction and displayed significantly greater involvement and positive affect in the underinhabited game than in either one or both of the other games.