A structural analysis of risky‐shift and cautious‐shift discussions: The diffusion‐of‐responsibility theory

Although several writers have stressed the importance of the discussion process in producing risky shifts in small‐group decision making, no researchers have attempted to discover the communicative processes of groups whose deliberations culminate in such shifts. This study examines the communication processes of risky‐shift and cautious‐shift groups in terms of the diffusion‐of‐responsibility theory (i.e., groups shifting toward risk tend to diffuse or share responsibility for the decision among group members or among elements outside the group). The results indicate that the communicative processes of risky‐shift and cautious‐shift discussion groups differ according to their handling of decisional responsibility as expected from the diffusion‐of‐responsibility theory. This finding provides warrant for additional studies examining the communicative processes of discussion groups from the vantage of other competing theories of the risky‐shift phenomenon.