Hypothesis 1a. The more negative the initial group performance feedback, the greater the increase in relationship conflict in subsequent group process.
A further supporting argument builds on StawÕs (1975) original observation about retrospective evaluations of group process. Group members may not feel any relationship conflict prior to receiving negative feedback, but then reinterpret their group process in light of the negative feedback. In other words, this suggests that the often replicated correlation between relationship conflict and group performance may emerge only after feedback is received. This suggests the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1b. Relationship conflict reported prior to initial performance feedback should be unrelated to actual group performance.
Predicting task conflict
Our second argument suggesting mechanisms for how initial performance feedback affects future group processes suggests that negative group performance feedback may have an impact on how well a group is able to constructively debate opinions and ideas (i.e., task conflict). As discussed earlier, moderate levels of task conflict are often associated with positive performance. On the one hand, a number of scholars have noted that extremely high levels of task conflict can be detrimental to member satisfaction and group performance because it distracts the groups attention away from reaching consensus or task accomplishment . On the other hand, too little task conflict can lead to frustration due to a perceived lack of reciprocal commitment or disbelief that other members are contributing (Jehn, 1997). In both of these extreme situations, members are likely to have mixed reactions to their experience. In groups that experience extremely high task conflict, for example, members may simultaneously feel both frustration at the way the group engaged in task debate as well as a sense that critical issues were thoroughly debated. Thus, performance feedback may well be important for deciding which of these reactions is more important if feedback is positive then group members will accept that their process was successful and not search for greater explanation; if the feedback is negative then this will encourage discussion to understand why it happened and what can be done to improve in the future. Thus, we suggest the following hypothesis: