Participation in Small Groups

The effects of sex, age, socioeconomic status (SES), size, visibility, first-to-speak, and amount of participation in the first minute of agroup discussion on total participation rates were studied by means of path analysis. A total of 218 individuals, in 52 mock juries of size four, five, and six persons, were observed as they discussed a mandatory retirement case. An observer recorded the number of seconds each individual spoke. Visibility and size were the main predictors of who spoke first. First-to-speak, age, and sex were the main predictors of participation in the first minute. Total participation was most strongly affected by age, participation in the first minute, and sex; but size also had an effect on total participation.