“I Didn’t Do It:” Responsibility Biases in Open and Closed Groups

Group members often take more responsibility for the group’s outcomes than others give to them. Extending evidence that egocentrism can be muted when group members are individuated (the “unpacking effect”), the authors predicted that members of open groups would be less egocentric than members of closed groups. In open groups, the possibility of membership fluctuation reduces collectiveness, breaking the group into individuals, which in turn lessens egocentrism. The authors tested these predictions in a study of groups of students working on a task relevant to their academic success. Members claimed more personal responsibility when they worked in closed groups relative to open groups (egocentrism), and lack of cohesion mediated the openversus closed-group link to responsibility allocations. Moreover, members of open groups did not take more responsibility after a success than a failure, whereas those in closed, successful groups claimed more credit than members of failure groups (self-serving bias). The discussion suggests that open groups, although often thought to create conflict as members compete, may contribute to a reduction in both egocentrism and self-serving responsibility allocations.