A Social Psychological Approach to Coalition Membership: An Expectancy Model of Individual Choice

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Abstract
The study of coalitions is required in order to fully understand behavior in com plex organizations. Central to the study of coalitions is the study of individual participation in them. To date, the study of coalition membership has been dominated by work constructed on the foundation of game theory. The limita tions of this approach in terms of descriptive and predictive utility have been well recognized. It is argued here that future work constructed on a social psychological foundation would overcome many of these problems. First, an expectancy model of coalition membership addressing inducements, contribu tions, and exchange in coalitions is presented. Concepts and considerations both addressed and ignored in past work are shown to be accommodated by the model. Second, a number of practical implications of the model are given by focusing on interventions into client systems.

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