The Effect of Initial Leader-Group Interaction and the Moderating Influence of Leadership Style on Group Decision-Making

A total of 120 female undergraduates from Old Dominion University participated in an experiment designed to determine the effect of initial leader-group interaction on group decision-making. This leader-group interaction was manipulated by means of a structured group briefing presented by the leader. Leadership style was also manipulated to determine if it has a moderating influence on initial leader-group interaction. The "Change of Work Procedure" role-playing exercise (Maier, 1952) was used as the decision-making task. A female confederate served as the group leader, and the participants were divided into 40, three member groups. Measures of decision quality, decision acceptance, and decision-making process effectiveness were made. Results showed an overall effect of leadership style, E (5,32) = 10.58, R < .05, and a main effect of leadership style on the use of effective decision-making processes, E (1,36) = 6.15, R < .05, omega2 = .12, suggesting that groups use more effective decision-making behaviors when the group leader exhibits a participative style of leadership than when the group leader exhibits a directive style of leadership. No other significant effects were found. Explanations and implications of the results are discussed.