The Effects of Computer Support, Social Facilitation, and Arousal of Suspicion on Group Deceptive Communication

• Other Authors: Marett, Kent (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Management information systems
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-2742

Today's business organizations emphasize the importance of teamwork and collaboration within work groups more than ever before. Unfortunately, group interaction is not always positive. Very little research has been conducted to investigate the behavior and judgments of group members who are belong to group in which one of the members is deceptive. This study is one of the first attempts to look at this phenomenon, from both the deceiver and receiver sides. Groups of three student subjects engaged in a group negotiation task, with one of the group members randomly assigned the role of deceiver. Groups varied by the availability of computer-supported communication for discussion purposes, their physical proximity with one another, and the number of group members who were warned about the possibility of deception. Hypotheses were developed to predict the amount of deceptive activity and the level of deception detection displayed by group members in each of these circumstances. Results indicated that individuals lied more when using computers to communicate with others and when both of their group partners had been warned. Group members were not proficient at detecting lies in any of the conditions. Implications of these findings and their potential implications for research and practice are discussed. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management Information Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Summer Semester, 2004. === June 17, 2004. === Groups, Computers, CMC, Dispersion, Deception === Includes bibliographical references. === Joey F. George, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald R. Ferris, Outside Committee Member; Katherine M. Chudoba, Committee Member; David B. Paradice, Committee Member.