個人表現與團體相對表現對選擇最適團體的影響

The influence of individual performance and relative group performance on the selection of the best-fit group

本研究從「最適團體」的新概念來探討個體在多個同質性團體中的流動傾向。我們認為個體為了維護正向的自我評價，會以「最適團體」為其社會流動的目標團體。個體選擇「最適團體」有二個重要的考慮歷程，首先，個體會優先選擇個人能力表現所能勝任的團體。其次，在前述的條件下，該團體的表現相對於其他可能團體的表現，仍具有相當的優勢。研究一為4（個人表現：高能力vs.中能力vs.低能力vs.無回饋）X 2（團體相對表現線索：明確vs.模糊）的二因子受試者間設計，共421位高中學生接受模擬情境故事的操弄，主要依變項為社會流動的行為意圖及預期未來表現。結果大致符合預期，當團體間相對表現明確時，個體可以判斷自己的最適團體，並以該團體為其社會流動的目標；相對的，當線索為模糊時，個體無法判斷自己的最適團體為何，因此選擇的目標團體較為分散。研究二為3（個人表現：好vs.中等vs.差）X 2（團體相對表現：好vs.中等）的二因子受試者間設計，共121位中原大學受試者依個人表現與團體相對表現的回饋，組成個人與團體表現間的最適與非最適狀態。主要依變項以社會流動的行為意圖為主，團體認同度與預期表現為輔。結果也頗符合預期，當個體已經處於最適團體時，大都會選擇留在原團體中，也展現了較高的團體認同度；相對的，個體若處非最適團體，則會展現明顯的社會流動意圖，以最適團體為其社會流動的目標團體，對原團體的團體認同程度低，同時對流動後的最適團體有著較高的團體認同度。研究結果均支持「最適團體」的概念，個體在社會流動時所考慮的目標團體，並不只是單純考慮到個人表現或團體地位，而是以能夠維護正向自我評價的「最適團體」為目標。

The new concept of "the best-fit group" is proposed in this study. In the best-fit group, individuals are able to maintain their positive self-evaluation. The author suggests that the purpose of social mobility is to achieve a positive self-evaluation, and therefore the "best-fit group" should be the target group of the movement. The best-fit group is qualified when two criteria were met: 1) the individual should feel he himself is more capable, at least not worse, than the average group members. 2) among all the possible alternatives, this group should be the best group that the individual can get. In experiment 1, four hundred and twenty one senior high students were assigned to read different scenarios. The scenarios were constructed based on a 3 (individual performance: good vs. medium vs. poor) X 2 (the cue of the relative group performance: explicit vs. vague) factorial design. The main dependent measures were behavior intention of social mobility and the expectation of future performance. As predicted, results indicated that when the explicit cue was provided and participants were able to identify their own best-fit group, they tended to choose the best-fit group as their target group. In contrast, individuals showed no psychological mobility toward the best-fit group, when the cue was vague and the best-fit group could not be identified. In experiment 2, one hundred and twenty one Chung-Yuan University students were randomly assigned to the best-fit or the non-best-fit conditions. The "best-fit" or the "non-best-fit" conditions were qualified by matching the relative group performance and individual performance. The results gave further support to the hypotheses, participants who were already in the best-fit groups showed higher in-group identification and lower social mobility, whereas those who were in the non-best-fit conditions had lower in-group identification and showed a strong tendency moving toward their own best-fit groups. The concept of "best-fit group" gained strong support in the study and it did provide the best explanations and most accurate predictions of social mobility. Further implications are also discussed.