Article summary of Fail or flourish? Cognitive appraisal moderates the effect of solo status on performance by White - 2008 - Chapter

If everyone in a certain group has the same social identity (for example, everyone is a man) and one person is not (a person is a woman), then this person has a solo status. This makes this solo person more visible in the group, because she stands out more. Moreover, it causes more pressure on performance, which can manifest itself in stress. The personal response to stress can be predicted by cognitive values ​​(or valuation, for example, fight or flight). In this article, two experiments are discussed that look at whether cognitive values ​​moderate the effect of a solo status on performance.

• Experiment 1 found that high appraisal values ​​cause solo status to increase performance and low values ​​to decrease performance.
• Experiment 2 found this effect based on minimal group tasks.

In short, for people who feel challenged and not threatened, a solo status can contribute to a better performance.

Preface

Sometimes a solo status ensures better performance, sometimes worse. This was investigated various studies. One or more moderators must explain this difference. Group moderators are already known: group status and group stereotypes. However, the moderators are not yet known at the individual level. People with a solo status stand out, have higher performance pressure and social isolation and feel that others will stereotype them. On an individual level, the way a person deals with that stress (cognitive appraisal) could be a moderator. With cognitive appraisal, someone can appreciate a situation and see if it is possible to keep it under control. Positive evaluation makes it possible higher performance and negative evaluation for poorer performance, which is why cognitive appraisal predicts the effect of solo status, high appraisal predicts better performance and lower appraisal predicts poorer performance.

Solo status: abnormal performance

Different processes are taking place at the majority and minority groups. Firstly, people in the minority groups are clearly visible, which can lead to higher performance pressure. Secondly, there is increased polarization (strengthening of opposites) between the minority and minority groups and this can lead to social isolation of the minority group. Thirdly, members of the minority group are characterized by a certain stereotype by the majority group. People with a solo status experience the same group pressure as tokens (people who have been assigned a higher rank precisely because they are in the minority).

A solo status can cause a poorer performance, it can contribute to the threat of stereotyping and it influences leadership in a group. Research showed that when a task seemed 'female', women with a solo status did not start to perform worse, but male solos did. This effect was also found the other way around. There are several group-level variables that can moderate the effect of solo status on individual performance: gender, group stereotypes, and group status.

Cognitive appraisal on emotion

When one is more certain of his or her ability to perform, one experiences less stress during a task. To be able to predict how someone will deal with the stress, you can look at the cognitive appraisal of emotion. This consists of primary and secondary appraisal: primary appraisal is the allocation of possible implications for a person himself: do I have a problem? This is done if there are possible negative implications. Secondary appraisal is the appraisal of if you can possibly solve the problem. Two constructs are related to cognitive appraisal: self-determination (the belief that you can produce specific actions to cope with a stressful situation)  and expectations about performance (how will I do it?) Two experiments have been designed to test the hypothesis that cognitive appraisal moderates the effect that solo status has on performance. It was thought that solos would perform better when the cognitive appraisal is high than when it is low.

Experiment 1

This experiment looks at whether cognitive appraisal would moderate the effect of solo gender status on performance. Participants had to do two tasks. There was a group discussion task and a difficult math task. It was thought that solos would feel higher levels of emotional arousal than non-solos. They also thought to find a solo status versus cognitive appraisal interaction: solos perform better when the cognitive appraisal is high than when it is low. This relationship would be stronger for solos than non-solos.

Method

137 participants participated. Groups consisted of 1 man and 3 women or 1 woman and 3 men. One had to do an emotion task to see how much arousal someone had. Then they did a group discussion task and a math task. Then the cognitive appraisal was investigated, both primary and secondary. They then answered various questions about, for example, peer pressure and stereotyping.

Results

Solos no longer felt visible or evaluated. Solos did not report higher levels of emotional arousal. Cognitive appraisal as variable: women had significantly lower appraisal (confidence in solving) in the math task and the group decision task. However, there was no significant effect of solo status on the appraisal. So it didn't matter if you were solo or not when it comes to trusting in solving a task. The solo status versus gender interaction was also not significant. And there was no difference between solos and non-solos.

Cognitive appraisal as a moderator: cognitive appraisal significantly predicted math scores. It predicted both for solos and non-solos, but significantly more for solos. A significant solo status versus cognitive appraisal interaction was found.

Discussion

Experiment 1 found that cognitive appraisal moderates the effect of solo status on performance. However, solos did not say that they felt raised arousal. They were aware of their solo status. They also thought they were stereotyped.

Experiment 2

Experiment 2 was designed to support the first experiment and to ensure that the independent variables on solo status and cognitive appraisal were uncorrelated. Cognitive appraisal was first measured and then participants were randomly assigned. They didn't get a privacy screen, which they did get in the first experiment. The group task from experiment 1 was not included, there was only a math task. Moreover, it contained several measurements to measure appraisal, instead of 1. The same hypotheses were used as in experiment 1.

Method

91 people participated. There were 21 groups of 3 people and 7 groups of 4 people.

Procedure

A few tasks had to be done and the cognitive appraisal was measured before there was a slight emphasis on the status of a person. This is different from experiment 1. The test subjects did a math task and the rest of the tasks (such as the questionnaires) that they did in experiment 1.

Results

With cognitive appraisal as a variable: there were no significant effects of gender or solo status and there was also no solo versus gender interaction. Solos indicated that they no longer feel visible, nor feel a higher pressure to perform, nor feel stereotyped. No effect was found in terms of emotion.

For cognitive appraisal as a moderator: just as in experiment 1, cognitive appraisal significantly predicts the math score. There was a solo status versus cognitive appraisal interaction. Just as in the first experiment, the women scored lower than the men.

Discussion

Experiment 2 supports the results of experiment 1. Solos with high levels of appraisal score higher than solos with low levels of appraisal. This effect was stronger for solos than for non-solos. The difference with the first experiment was that the appraisal was tested by making the math test in the group context and the solo status was introduced afterwards for some participants. In this way one ensures that the possibility that the effect was observed, because the solo status makes people more accurate and extreme in their appraisal, was excluded. For example, it was ensured that this effect is uncorrelated with the reported cognitive appraisal.

General discussion

Two experiments found support for the hypothesis that the cognitive appraisal of emotion moderates the effect on solo status on a personal performance. This effect is stronger and more positive for solos than non-solos. This may explain why solo status leads to better performance in some people and to poorer performance in others. There were no differences in the effect that solo status has on men and women.