女人是聪明群体的秘密

TheSecrettoSmartGroups:It'sWomenAfleetofMITstudiesfindsthatwomenaremuchbetteratknowingwhattheircolleaguesarereallythinking.It'sanotherreasontoexpectthegenderwagegaptoeventuallyflip.DerekThompsonJan18,2015Theconceptofgeneralintelligence—theideathatpeoplewhoaregoodatonementaltasktendtobegoodatmanyothers—wasconsideredradicalin1904,whenCharlesSpearmanproposedthetheoryofagfactor.Today,however,itisamongthemostreplicatedfindingsinpsychology.Butwhereasin1904theU.S.economywasanetworkoffarms,mills,andartisans,today'seconomyisanofficebasedaffair,wherethemostimportantgformanycompaniesdoesn'tstandforgeneralintelligence,but,rather,groups.So,whatmakesgroupssmart?Isthereanysuchthingasasmartgroup,oraregroupsjust,well,clumpsofsmartpeople?AsateamofscientistsfromMIT,CarnegieMellon,andUnionCollegewriteinthisSunday'sNewYorkTimes,researchsuggeststhatjustassomeindividualsaresmarterthanothers,somegroupsaresmarterthanothers,acrossarangeoftestsandtasks.Inotherwords,thereisacfactorforcollectiveintelligence.Teamsthataresuccessfulatsolvingvisualpuzzlesalsotendtobegoodatbrainstormingandbeatingcomputersinvideogames.Theauthorsprovideanicesummaryofthecharacteristicsofsmartgroupsintheiroriginalstudy(notdirectlylinkedintheTimespiece,butaccessibleonpage686ofScience,October2010):Intwostudieswith699people,workingingroupsoftwotofive,wefindconvergingevidenceofageneralcollectiveintelligencefactorthatexplainsagroup’sperformanceonawidevarietyoftasks.This“cfactor”isnotstronglycorrelatedwiththeaverageormaximumindividualintelligenceofgroupmembersbutiscorrelatedwiththeaveragesocialsensitivityofgroupmembers,theequalityindistributionofconversationalturntaking,andtheproportionoffemalesinthegroup.Thatboldedsentenceishidingalotofheavyconclusionsinplainsight.First,neithertheaverageintelligenceofthegroupnorthesmartestpersoninthegrouphadmuchtodowiththegroup'scfactor.Justasgreatartistsdon'tnecessarilyformgreatbandswhentheypooltheirtalents,smartpeopledon'tautomaticallymakesmartgroups.Furthermore,thepredictabletroupeofbuzzwordsyouwouldexpecttocorrelatewithsuccessfulgroups—cohesion,motivation,andsatisfaction—didn'thavemuchtodowitheffectiveteams,either.Instead,thesinglemostimportantelementofsmartgroups,accordingtotheresearchers,wastheiraveragesocialsensitivity.Thatis,thebestgroupswerealsothebestatreadingthenonverbalcuesoftheirteammates.And,sincewomenscorehigheronthismetricofemotionalintelligence,teamswithmorewomentendedtobebetterteams.Whattheheckisaveragesocialsensitivity?Itis,essentially,mindreading.Whenamemberofyourteam—Michelle,we'llcallher—saysIguessDannyreallydoeshavetheanswerforeverything,andyoudetectahintofaggrievedironyinMichelle'sstatement,whilefurthernotingthesimultaneousdropinMichelle'schinasshemakesthecomment,coincidingwithadeflatedairofpreemptivesurrenderinMichelle'stone,andyoubegintothink,hmmm,maybewhatMichelleisactuallysayingisthatDannyisaknowitalljerk?,youaredetectingwhatscientistswouldcallnonverbalclues.Inplainspeak,youarereadingbetweenthelines.Indeed,likereading,socialsensitivityisakindofliteracy,anditturnsoutthatwomenarenaturallymorefluentinthelanguageoftoneandfacesthantheotherhalfoftheirspecies.Womenarebetteratreadingthemindthroughthefaceevenonline,whentheycan'tseetheirteammates'faces.Inafollowupstudy(thefullpaper,whichagainisn'tlinkedintheTimespiece,liveshere),thescientistsgaveparticipantsaReadingtheMindintheEyes,orRME,test,wheretheywereaskedtoidentifycomplexemotions(e.g.,shameorcuriosity,ratherthansadnessorjoy)inpicturesofotherpeople'seyes.Thentheydividedparticipantsintoteamsandhadthemperformanumberoftests,likebrainstormingandgroupSudoku.Again,teamswithmorewomen,whoscoredhigherontheRMEtest,performedthebestacrossthetasks.Fromthepaper:The[RME]scoresofgroupmemberswereastrongpredictorofhowwellthegroupscouldperformawiderangeoftaskstogether,evenwhenparticipantswereonlycollaboratingonlineviatextchatandcouldnotseeeachother’seyesorfacialexpressionsatall.ReadingthesestudiesandtheTimespiece,Icouldthinkoftwoobviousobjections.First:Isn'titpossiblethattherearespecificpersonalitytraits—likeopennessorempathy—thatmightmakesomemenjustasgoodaswomenatreadingthemindsoftheirteammates?Second:Isitreallytruethatsmarterteammateshavesolittletodowithsmartgroups?Theresearchersanswerthefirstquestionexplicitly,withano.WefoundnosignificantcorrelationbetweenageneralfactorofpersonalityandcollectiveintelligenceorRME,theywrite.Mindreadingisn'tapersonalitytrait.It'saskill.Second,therelationshipbetweensmartteammatesandsmartgroupsiscomplicatedbythefactthatgroupsaresometimesassignedproblemsthatonlyrequireonepersontosolve.Ifyouaskateamofhighlyemotionallysensitivepeopletosolveadifferentialcalculusproblem,andnoneofthemknowscalculus,it'sunlikelythattheywillcometograspTaylorpolynomialsbylookingdeeplyintoeachothers'eyesandreally,trulylistening.Whentheproblemcanbesolvedbyonereallysmartcookie(e.g.:whorememberscalculus),it'snicetohaveareallysmartcookie.If,however,thesolutionrequiresdeepcollaboration,EQtrumpsIQ.Ifoundthesestudieseyeopeningfortwofurtherreasons.First,thereisagrowingsensethattheInternetcandestroyinterpersonalskills,killouremotionalintelligence,andturnusintowarmbloodedversionsoftheveryrobotsthatwefearwillonedaytakeourjobs.Butthesestudiessuggestthattherulesofempathyholdbothonandoffline.Emotionallysensitivepeoplearegiftedatreadingbetweenthelines,whethertheliterallinesarebrowwrinklesortextmessages.Second,ifyoutakethesefindingsseriously,theyrepresentathirdforkofevidencesuggestingthatthemalefemalegenderwagegapwillnotonlyclosebutalsoinvert.Itwouldsurprisemeif,inageneration,womenaren'tearningmorethanmenacrossmanymainstreamindustries.First,womenearnthemajorityofbachelor'sdegrees,Master'sdegrees,andPh.D's.Thehistoricalrelationshipbetweenhighereducationandearningsissimple:Thosewholearnmoreearnmore.Thisadvantagewillcontinuetoenrichwomeninthelaborforce.Second,ifyoulookatthedirectionofjobgrowth,brawny,musclyjobslikeconstructionandmanufacturingareinstructuraldecline,whilethefastestgrowingjobs,bothatthelowpayendandinthewhitecollarworld,requiresofterskillswheremenhavenophysicaladvantage.Third,menmighthaveinnatedisadvantagesincollaborativeworksettings,liketheemotionalilliteracyalludedtointhesestudies.