Team Roles and Hierarchic System in Group Discussion
Conventional systems for classifying team roles refer only to the function criterion and two categories, task and social; in addition, roles and behaviors are unspecialized, a one to one correspondence being assumed between them. These theoretical problems have resulted in overly fragmented roles as well as oversimplified categories. Therefore, this article aims to reveal essential roles and a unified system to classify them. In order to elucidate the team roles essential for discussion, a questionnaire survey was administered for Study 1, with the result that just ten discussant roles were identified. For Study 2, in order to verify a classification system for the discussant roles, participant groups were asked to discuss itineraries for an overnight group trip during the winter holiday. The results showed that a three criterion model based on the deep roles is superior to the traditional model. In this hierarchical system, characteristic behaviors are expressed according to ten discussant roles, which are divided into six categories, using a combination of three criteria. This system not only solves the theoretical issues but also contributes to improving members' discussion behaviors.