Terrorist teams as loosely coupled systems.

Acts of terrorism can be harrowing and cause extensive damage, yet they occur far too frequently. How do terrorist groups organize and coordinate their attacks? What makes those groups simultaneously cohesive and flexible in a hostile environment? Different academic disciplines have contributed to a better understanding of the proliferation of terrorist acts in recent years. With very few exceptions, however, extant psychological research on terrorism has almost exclusively focused on the individual terrorist.

A multilevel model of minority opinion expression and team decision-making effectiveness.

The consideration of minority opinions when making team decisions is an important factor that contributes to team effectiveness. A multilevel model of minority opinion influence in decision-making teams is developed to address the conditions that relate to adequate consideration of minority opinions. Using a sample of 57 teams working on a simulated airport security-screening task, we demonstrate that team learning goal orientation influences the confidence of minority opinion holders and team discussion.