Status and participation in six-person groups: A test of skvoretz’s comparative status model

A mathematical model of participation in n-person groups, derived from expectation states theory by Skvoretz (a), was tested in six-person task-oriented groups with systematically varying sex compositions. The groups of undergraduate subjects performed a task modeled after that used by Fisek. Videotapes were made of group interactions and later coded for participation, interruptions, and conversational overlaps. The Skvoretz model fits the participation data poorly (as measured by a Chi-square goodness-of-fit test), primarily because there was much more variation in participation within statuses (male and female) than predicted by the model. A revised model which represents the groups' status structure as differentiated along a primary status dimension, sex, and then differentiated along secondary status dimensions within members of the same sex is suggested for a better fit to the participation data. © 1986 The University of North Carolina Press.

Duke Scholars

Author Lynn Smith-Lovin Sociology