Sex Composition and Group Climate: A Group Actor−Partner Interdependence Analysis

Abstract

There is a lack of research examining how the proportion of women and men in a group effects both the group member’s perception of group climate and the aggregated perceptions of group climate for the other group members. We adapted the group actor–partner interdependence model (GAPIM; Kenny & Garcia, 2012) to examine how the perception of the group’s climate by a group member and by the other group members are related to the group member’s sex and the sex of the other group members. In addition, we examined how similar the group member’s sex was to the sex of the other group members by analyzing the interaction between the two sex variables. A total of 110 Italian graduate students (96 women, 87%; 14 men, 13%) were studied in six 10-session training groups. Group members filled out the Group Climate Questionnaire–Short Form after the fifth group session. Contrary to hypotheses derived from Kanter’s (Kanter, 2006) theory about the experience of tokens in groups, male group members did not perceive a more therapeutic group climate (i.e., higher engagement and lower conflict) as the proportion of women in a group decreased. There were, however, consistent and large effects for the sex composition of the other group members. Specifically, as the proportion of women in the group increased, both the group member and the other group members perceived the group climate as more engaging and as having less conflict. In addition, a group member’s perception of group climate was positively related to the aggregated climate perceptions of the other group members. Additionally, group size was related to less engagement and more conflict, as rated by the other group members, and less engagement, as rated by the group member. The findings suggest that the GAPIM is a useful approach for examining group composition.