Abstract
Cooperative training in heterogeneous groups. This study analyses the impact of a cooperative training program about self-regulatory mechanisms and group processes of heterogeneous demographic groups. All groups were composed of a young and a mature participants. Group trainees worked at a new and complex task: a simulation program of managerial decision-making. Self-regulatory processes and group processes were evaluated along training. The results show that all participants increased the strength of their perceptions about group efficacy and set goals after this cooperative training program. Mature participants increased their positive emotional state after the cooperative training program while they decreased the perception of previous negative emotions that they had experienced before training. Group cohesion, previous beliefs about group efficacy, positive emotion and performance influenced the final judgments about group efficacy. All groups achieved higher performance levels along the five blocks of this simulation program.
