Can someone with Contribute access view an un-approved calendar entry

Question

I have a Calendar that requires approval for each item. I have 2 security groups.

1. Owners
2. Members

Owners have Full Control. Members have contribute access. My assumptions are the following based on my security set-up

1. Members can not approve.
2. Members can not view any items (other than their own) until approved.
3. The people who are under the Owners Security Group have the ability to approve the item.

Are these assumptions correct ?

One final question is if I changed the security group for Members from Contribute to Edit would Members then be able to approve.

Answer 1

Your assumptions are correct. In this scenario, Members group would not be able to view unapproved calendar items (known as draft items) until someone from the Owners group approved it.

In order to view draft items from other users, you have to have at least Manage List Permissions, which is well outside of the basic Contribute permission. (So the answer to your final question then, is no, since Edit permissions is only a subset of Contribute permissions).