La inteligencia colectiva en la productividad grupal: Una prueba piloto

Teamwork has always been a concern of those who think about the functioning of groups and espe-cially about productivity in organisations. Group members’ traits are essential in determining how the group meets its productive goals, and these influential characteristics are not limited to factors like motivation or overall attitude toward work. Other aspects more intrinsic to each individual, such as social sensitivity and emotional intelligence, can make it easier for groups to meet their objectives more effectively and efficiently. With this in mind, a pilot experiment was conducted for the purposes of testing Malone’s theories in the field of collective intelligence. The subjects were first-year Psychology students at Ramon Llull University, divided into groups consisting of either men only, women only or men and women together. In the study, the groups carried out three parallel exercises linked to negotiation and group creativity. The results showed higher scores for women than men for social sensitivity, but no significant differences between the groups were apparent. Despite this, the results were encouraging, though it is true that they must be reconsidered and the sorts of tests used must be adapted if they are to corroborate Malone’s theory in detail