Organizational Psychology

The article deals with the problem of describing the strategy of responsive behavior of small group members. Purpose. The aim of the study is to investigate the differences in the performance of small group members in the process of solving a game task in a situation of uncertainty in the presence and absence of implementation of the strategy of responsive behavior by a group member. Study design. The study involved 112 undergraduate psychology students distributed into 16 groups — eight experimental and eight control groups. Size of the groups: five–nine participants. The empirical study was divided into four stages: preliminary, training, main experimental and final. We used the method of experimentation, ‘Methodology for the identification of personal and situational anxiety’, methodology ‘Leadership effectiveness’, as well as the author’s developed tools: a questionnaire aimed at identifying the most inclined to display responsive behavior of a group member; training program of responsive behavior strategy; case study aimed at determining the degree of learning the material of the training program of responsive behavior strategy of the participant. Findings. It was found that there are differences in the performance of small groups in a situation of uncertainty due to the responsive behaviour of the participants. It was found that the implementation of the model of responsive behaviour is possible through learning and practicing its stages within the training program. It is shown that the strategy of responsive behaviour consists of stages in accordance with the alignment with the imperatives of co-creative activity. Conclusions. Manifestation of the strategy of responsive behaviour by a participant of a small group on creation of a joint-creative type of joint activity in a situation of uncertainty reduces situational anxiety of group members, improving the emotional state of players, and increasing the effectiveness of using resources to find a solution while saving time for the answer and the number of game cards. The closeness of the participant’s assessment of his group by the characteristics of uncertainty determines the propensity of the group member to responsive behaviour, acting as a basis for highlighting the level of his leadership potential. Use by specialists in career development, human resources, psychological support for employees and students in training, building motivation systems and identifying potential leaders in teams.