Implicit theories and the evaluation of group process and performance

Abstract

Previous research has shown that people hold implicit theories or beliefs about relationships between aspects of group process and task accomplishment. These implicit theories, in the presence of evaluative information, affect reports about groups. However, many issues about the impact of implicit theories are unresolved, including whether implicit theories combine differently with positive and negative information and the role of memory in the impact of implicit theories. Two experiments reported here found that (1) implicit theories and negative but not positive information affected people's reports and (2) the operation of implicit theories was unrelated to retrieval processes in memory for facts about an observed group. Implications of the findings for methods of research on groups and for organizational practices involving groups are discussed.