The group level of aspiration and external social pressures

Abstract

It has been observed in research on the group level of aspiration that social pressures arising outside a group influence the aspiration level members chose; pressures toward improvement in group performance appear to be more effective than those toward no improvement. It is possible, however, that these results are an artifact in some degree of the preference members commonly reveal for more difficult group tasks. In the present experiment the difficulty of an external standard pressed upon a group and the success or failure of the group on its task are made to be independent events. When the members' usual preference for harder aspiration levels is ruled out, a harder external standard is no more influential than an easier one. Regardless of its difficulty, an external standard is less influential if it is inappropriate to the prior performance of the group or to a member's strength of desire for group success; in such an instance a member's aspiration for his group is determined by the preference of his teammates. Members of groups with greater desire for group success set harder aspiration levels and perform better than those with less desire for group success.