Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34784396›Full record

ArticlePloS one2021

How collective reward structure impedes group decision making: An experimental study using the HoneyComb paradigm.

Marie Ritter, Meng Wang, Johannes Pritz, Olaf Menssen, Margarete Boos

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Marie RitterSocial and Communication Psychology, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8998-2706
Meng WangSocial and Communication Psychology, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Johannes PritzSocial and Communication Psychology, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Olaf MenssenSocial and Communication Psychology, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Margarete BoosSocial and Communication Psychology, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-2122-8883

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigates if and under which conditions humans are able to identify and follow the most advantageous leader who will them provide with the most resources. In an iterated economic game with the aim of earning monetary reward, 150 participants were asked to repeatedly choose one out of four leaders. Unbeknownst to participants, the leaders were computer-controlled and programmed to yield different expected payout values that participants had to infer from repeated interaction over 30 rounds. Additionally, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: single, independent, or cohesion. The conditions were designed to investigate the ideal circumstances that lead to identifying the most advantageous leader: when participants are alone (single condition), in a group that lets individuals sample information about leaders independently (independent condition), or in a group that is rewarded for cohesive behavior (cohesion condition). Our results show that participants are generally able to identify the most advantageous leader. However, participants who were incentivized to act cohesively in a group were more likely to settle on a less advantageous leader. This suggests that cohesion might have a detrimental effect on group decision making. To test the validity of this finding, we explore possible explanations for this pattern, such as the length of exploration and exploitation phases, and present techniques to check for confounding factors in group experiments in order to identify or exclude them as alternative explanations. Finally, we show that the chosen reward structure of the game strongly affects the observed following behavior in the group and possibly occludes other effects. We conclude with a recommendation to carefully choose reward structures and evaluate possible alternative explanations in experimental group research that should further pursue the study of exploration/exploitation phases and the influence of group cohesion on group decision making as promising topics for further research.

Indexed as

Decision MakingLeadershipAdultFemaleHumansMaleRandom AllocationRewardSocial CohesionYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID34784396
PMCPMC8594797

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.