Doctoral Dissertation Research:Sources of Legitimation and the Formation and Flexibility of Group Routines

Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Social psychologists argue that individuals create social structures through interaction with others, and that these structures in turn serve to shape, constrain, or enable future interaction. However, the nature of the kinds of group structures and decision-making that emerge depend on the sources of group legitimation. For example, group legitimacy may come externally from the larger organization, or it may come internally from its own beliefs systems. This project examines how different sources of legitimation make groups more or less hierarchical in their decision-making, and more or less flexible in their routine interactions. To address these questions, it uses experimental methods involving subjects brought together to interact in a group project. The independent variable is authorization by the researcher (i.e., external legitimation) or endorsement by the group (i.e., internal legitimation). The dependent variables are the group's adherence to routines over two different types of tasks it is asked to complete, and the patterns of observable power and prestige that emerge in the groups' interactions. Along with evaluating theories of legitimation, the results provide valuable information for organizations concerned with implementing team or group decision-making structures.