Nuanced Aggression in Group Decision Making

Group decision making in organizations represents an opportunity for group members to seek to exert social influence. Whining and bullying are examined as nonrational influence tactics used by individuals in groups. Both tactics are envisioned as forms of aggression, differing across a dominance-submissiveness continuum. The impact of whining and bullying as compliance gaining tactics for organizational group decision making is examined using 234 individuals whose jobs include group decision making in organizations. The use of bullying and whining tactics are positively correlated indicating dominance complementarity, with increases in one tactic being associated with increases in the other. In addition, bullying and whining are found to have negative effects on cohesiveness and group decision-making effectiveness.