Process Gain and Loss

Process gain and loss are labels covering a long research tradition in social psychology that examines how and to what degree group processes affect group performance, with the earliest work occurring over 100 years ago. Sometimes, group processes can lead to performance that exceeds expectation, referred to as process gains. More often, group processes lead to performance that falls below expectations, referred to as process losses. Work on process gains and losses has focused on both performance by the group as a whole and the effects on the performance of an individual who is working as a member of the group.

This entry looks at research about process gains and losses in two principal categories, coordination and motivation. Coordination gains and losses result from how well ...