Abstract
Summary: This article introduces the idea of performance gains in groups in the sense of each group member's readiness to perceive, tolerate, and represent more than one point of view within the group or societal context. For this purpose we refer to enhanced performance as the furthering of “multiple perspectives.” Active participation enables perspective-taking, role-playing, flexibility in one's persuasions, and ultimately increments in one's internalization of diverse aspects of society. We discuss the social conditions that maximize such active participation - thus performance for the other's perspective - as well as individually-based psychological forces that shut down the individual's openness to diverse perspectives. Performance for the other as defined in terms of multiple perspectives is contrasted with group productivity as measured by a single performance criterion on which group members agree a priori.
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