The Rise and Fall of Power and Prestige Orders: Influence of Task Structure*

The present study highlights specific features of group problem-solving environments (i.e., task structure) that may directly affect interaction patterns and status hierarchies in heterogeneous groups. We used a laboratory experiment to investigate the differential effects of ill-structured and well-structured tasks on expectations of specific status characteristics and on the stability of power and prestige orders in collaborative groups. Twenty three-member, all-female groups, with each group member assigned randomly to a relatively high-, medium-, or low-specific-status position, solved an ill-structured or well-structured logic problem. Ill-structured tasks generated more task-relevant characteristics than did well-structured tasks, improved groups' evaluations of lower-status members, and encouraged higher rates of participation from lower-status members over the course of group problem solving. Overall the results suggest that task structure may work to destabilize power and prestige orders in initially heterogeneous groups and may be an important factor in expectation states research.

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