Does Teaming Obscure Low Performance? Exploring the Temporal Effects of Team Performance Diversity

Organizations are increasingly using team-based projects to achieve goals. As such, it is important to understand how team members (e.g., their differences) influence team outcomes such as effectiveness. In the present study, we examine performance diversity, differences in members’ past performance, as an antecedent to team effectiveness. In addition, we assessed the length of time the group performed together as a moderator and social loafing among members as a mediator of the performance diversity—team effectiveness relationship. Using multisource data for 673 individuals in 139 project teams, we found that performance diversity had an increasingly negative effect for groups that were together longer. Specifically, greater diversity resulted in more social loafing, thereby diminishing team satisfaction and supervisor-rated team performance.     

Effects and timing of developmental peer appraisals in self-managing work groups

This study used a repeated measures time-series design to examine the immediate and longer term impact of a structured, face-to-face developmental peer appraisal on 294 undergraduates in 44 self-managing work groups (SMWGs) and 217 MBA students in 36 SMWGs. Results revealed an immediate positive impact on perceptions of open communication, task motivation, social loafing, group viability, cohesion, and satisfaction. Also, the effects of the peer appraisal were not dependent on the perceived ratio of positive to negative feedback, and the enduring impact of the appraisal was influenced by its timing relative to task deadline. Overall, results emphasized that peer appraisals can have a positive effect on relationships and task focus, are influenced by temporal context, and have great potential for work teams.     

Role Satisfaction Mediates the Relation between Role Ambiguity and Social Loafing among Elite Women Handball Players

The aims of the study were to develop a questionnaire on self-reported social loafing (SRSLQ), and then to examine its relations with role ambiguity and role satisfaction in a sample of 110 women handball players competing at the elite level in Norway. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that the SRSLQ was a psychometrically sound measure. In line with the expectations, role satisfaction fully mediated the positive relation between role ambiguity and self-reported social loafing: The more players experienced role ambiguity, the less satisfied they were with their role in the team, and the more social loafing they reported.     

包容型氛围感知对员工建言的影响：心理安全感与惰性感知的双重路径

基于社会信息加工理论视角,通过对816名员工与其直接上级进行两时间点配对取样,探讨包容型氛围感知对员工建言的影响,以及心理安全感与惰性感知在两者关系中的作用机制。研究结果表明：员工包容型氛围感知对其建言行为起到促进作用,并通过心理安全感与惰性感知间接影响建言行为。研究结果不仅从理论上丰富与拓展了包容型氛围的效应研究,同时对实务界管理员工建言有一定的实践启示。     

The Relationship among Group Process Perceptions,Goal Commitment and Turnover Intention in Small Committee Groups

In this study a series of hierarchical regression analyses were run to test a model examining the impact of perceived loafing, group potency and cohesion on goal commitment and turnover intention in small committee groups. Seventy-one full-time university faculty participated in the study. Results of this study suggest that an individual’s perception of their group plays an important role with respect to the level of commitment they have to their group goals and their intention to leave a group. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.     

环境因素对流动儿童歧视知觉的影响及群体态度的调节作用

采用整班联系、自愿参加的方式,选取北京市海淀、朝阳、昌平三个区的1350名流动儿童为被试,采用歧视知觉问卷、家庭社会经济地位问卷、班级环境气氛量表以及群体态度测验,考察家庭经济环境和学校班级环境对流动儿童歧视知觉的影响,并进一步探讨群体态度对它们关系的影响作用。结果表明:(1)家庭社会经济地位、老师支持和同学支持对于个体和群体歧视知觉具有显著的负向影响,同时,班级内聚力对于个体歧视知觉、满意程度对于群体歧视知觉也存在显著的负向影响。(2)同学支持对于个体歧视知觉的负向预测作用更为重要,老师支持则对群体歧视知觉的负向预测作用更为重要。(3)对于群体态度不同的流动儿童,环境因素对其个体和群体歧视知觉的作用存在一定差异。在个体歧视知觉方面,同学支持是态度中立组和态度偏城市儿童组的最佳预测因素,班级内聚力则是态度偏流动儿童组的最佳预测因素;在群体歧视知觉方面,老师支持对于群体态度不同组均表现出最为重要的预测作用。     

How Colleagues Can Support Each Other's Needs and Motivation: An Intervention on Employee Work Motivation

Organisations have flattened and increasingly rely on teamwork. Therefore, colleagues play an increasingly important role in stimulating employee motivation. Adopting Self‐Determination Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this field experiment was to examine whether team members can be trained in supporting each other's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and, hence, increase each other's need satisfaction and autonomous motivation, while decreasing controlled motivation. We delivered training to 146 participants nested in 26 participating teams and assessed basic need satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation before and after the intervention. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that employees in the experimental (i.e. intervention) condition had a stronger increase in need satisfaction and autonomous motivation than employees did in the control condition, and that the increase in autonomous motivation was mediated by an increase in need satisfaction. This study provides added value for theory on need satisfaction and demonstrates that a relatively brief intervention among team members may be effective in creating employee need support and increasing autonomous motivation.     

That’s not my place: The interacting effects of faultlines,subgroup size,and social competence on social loafing behaviour in work groups

Taking a social relations approach to team diversity, we propose that faultlines—hypothetical dividing lines that split a team into relatively homogeneous subgroups—impact the team members’ propensity to exhibit social loafing behaviour. We further propose that this individual-level reaction to the faultline structure of the team can differ among team members, depending on the size of their subgroup and on their individual social competence. We tested the assumptions with a sample of real teams working on an intellective task during which social loafing behaviour was video-coded. In partial support of the hypotheses, generalized mixed models revealed that social loafing behaviour was most common for team members who were part of a team with strong faultlines, who belonged to the larger subgroup in their team, and who exhibited low levels of social competence. The results therefore highlight the benefits of taking a multilevel approach to the effects of faultlines.     

Testing relations between group cohesion and satisfaction in project teams: A cross-level and cross-lagged approach

Based on a two-dimensional perspective of group cohesion, this study examines the emergence of task cohesion and interpersonal cohesion in project teams and their roles in changes in members’ individual satisfaction with the team. Specifically, we tested a direct-effect and mediation model of the cross-level relationship between team task and interpersonal cohesion and individual satisfaction with the team over time. With a sample of 74 newly created project teams, the hypotheses were tested using a two-wave panel design. Results indicate that task cohesion emerges more strongly than interpersonal cohesion during the first stages of work in project teams. Moreover, the cross-lagged relationship between team interpersonal cohesion and individual satisfaction with the team was mediated by team task cohesion.     

Gender and Theory of Mind in Preschoolers’ Group Effort: Evidence for Timing Differences Behind Children’s Earliest Social Loafing

This study explored mental state reasoning within the context of group effort and possible differences in development between boys and girls. Preschool children (59 girls, 47 boys) were assessed for theory of mind (ToM) ability using classic false belief tests. Children participated in group effort conditions that alternated from one condition, where individual effort was transparent and obvious, to one where individual effort remained anonymous. The aim was to investigate if emergent mental state reasoning, after controlling for age, was associated with the well-known phenomenon of reduced effort in group tasks (“social loafing”). Girls had slightly higher ToM scores and social loafing than boys. Hierarchical regression, controlling for age, indicated that understanding of others’ false beliefs uniquely predicted social loafing and interacted weakly with gender status.     

Predictors of relationship adjustment among couples coping with a high risk of developing breast/ovarian cancer

This study investigated the association between supportive and collaborative processes and dyadic adjustment in 94 women at increased risk of breast/ovarian cancer and their partners. Participants were recruited through two familial cancer clinics. They completed mailed, self-report questionnaires that included measures of psychological distress, dyadic adjustment (consensus, cohesion and satisfaction) and couple predictor variables (perceived support and team approach). Most couples reported average-to-high levels of consensus, cohesion and satisfaction, with a small proportion of couples (6.4%) reporting scores that reached clinically significant levels of dyadic distress. Greater perceived support was associated with better dyadic consensus and satisfaction, and dyadic cohesion and satisfaction were higher among couples who reported greater use of a team approach. General distress did not moderate the association between dyadic coping and relationship quality. There were no significant relationships between intra-couple congruence on support or team approach, and dyadic adjustment. Most couples had a functional relationship in the face of the current health stressor, although a subgroup may be at elevated risk of negative psychological consequences, including further relationship strain. The results highlight that dyadic coping strategies are important factors involved in the quality of couples' relationship following genetic counselling for breast/ovarian cancer risk.     

公益组织课外辅导对流动儿童领悟社会支持的影响

通过对选自北京市打工子弟小学的159名流动儿童进行问卷调查,探讨公益组织的社会干预对流动儿童领悟社会支持能力及情绪情感的影响。结果表明:(1)在公益组织实施课外团体辅导后,干预组流动儿童领悟社会支持得分与积极情感得分均显著高于对照组流动儿童。(2)在消极情感得分上,干预组与对照组不存在显著差异。(3)领悟社会支持与积极情感存在显著正相关,与消极情感存在负相关。这表明,通过公益组织实施课外辅导方式进行的社会干预能够有效提高流动儿童的领悟社会支持水平。     

Perceived Neighborhood Social Resources as Determinants of Prosocial Behavior in Early Adolescence

The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.     

Characteristics of work groups and their relationship with social and task cohesion in student teams

Results of an exploratory study of relationships between work-group characteristics and the social and task cohesion of 18 business students engaged in team class projects. Regression analysis of scores on workload sharing, team spirit, task flexibility, and team cohesiveness for scales of the Work Group Characteristics Inventory indicated sharing of the workload was significantly associated with both task and social cohesion; team spirit with task cohesion but not social cohesion; and task flexibility with social cohesion but not task cohesion.     

领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响

采用问卷法调查了1319名青少年,探讨了领悟社会支持对感恩与青少年生活满意度之间关系的中介效应以及压力性生活事件对此中介效应是否具有调节效应。结果发现：（1）领悟社会支持在感恩与青少年生活满意度之间起着部分中介作用;（2）领悟社会支持的中介作用受到压力性生活事件的调节,压力性生活事件调节了感恩 领悟社会支持 生活满意度这一中介过程的后半路径。因此,领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响是有调节的中介效应。研究结论对提高青少年的生活满意度具有重要的理论价值和参考价值。     

Psychosocial mediators of group cohesion on physical activity intention of older adults

Considerable evidence has indicated that group-based physical activity may be a promising approach to reducing and preventing age-related illness. However, this research has not examined the mechanisms by which cohesion may impact on behaviour. The purpose of the present research was to utilise the theory of planned behaviour to investigate the mechanism by which group cohesion may affect physical activity intention. Participants were recruited from an existing physical activity intervention studying the effects of group cohesion on physical activity behaviour. The outcomes of this intervention are reported elsewhere. This paper presents data from a sub-sample of the intervention population (N=74) that examined the mediating relationships between the theory of planned behaviour and group cohesion on physical activity intention. Analyses showed that attitude and perceived behavioural control mediated the relationship between specific group cohesion concepts and physical activity intention. The direct measure of subjective norm failed to display a mediating relationship. The mediating relationships displayed between attitude and perceived behavioural control and physical activity intention provide insight into potential mechanisms by which group cohesion may affect behaviour.     

受歧视知觉对流动儿童社会融入的影响：中介机制及自尊的调节作用

研究以上海市437名流动儿童为被试,通过量表法分析了流动儿童从受歧视知觉到社会融入过程的影响因素及其作用机制。结果显示：（1）受歧视知觉作为危险性因素对流动儿童的社会融入产生了显著负面影响;（2）群体可渗透性在流动儿童的受歧视知觉和社会融入过程中起着部分中介作用,受歧视知觉既对社会融入产生直接负面影响,也通过群体可渗透性对社会融入产生间接影响;（3）个体自尊水平对群体可渗透性中介作用的发挥起到调节作用,群体可渗透性对流动儿童生活满意度的影响,随个体自尊水平的提升而增加。群体可渗透性对流动儿童的社会融入起着有调节的中介作用。     

Achievement Motivation,Expected Coworker Performance,and Collective Task Motivation: Working Hard or Hardly Working?1

Social loafing is the tendency of individuals to work less hard collectively than individually. The present study examined the joint influence of achievement motivation and expected coworker effort on collective task performance. Participants (N= 107) who qualified and were available after pretesting on an achievement motivation scale were randomly assigned to a work condition and coworker effort condition. Dyads were asked to generate as many uses for a knife as possible within a 12‐min time period. Participants low in achievement motivation engaged in social loafing, but only when expected coworker effort was high, whereas participants high in achievement motivation did not engage in social loafing, regardless of expected coworker effort. The implication of achievement motivation for collective task performance settings is discussed.     

Sticking to common values: Neighbourhood social cohesion moderates the effect of value congruence on life satisfaction

This article aims to explicate the role of social cohesion in the relationship between adherence to common values and life satisfaction. Shared values are often assumed to be a constitutive element of social cohesion and are used in measurement of the concept. However, sociopsychological theory of values sees social cohesion rather as a moderator of the link between value congruence and life satisfaction, not as a constituent of value congruence. Based on a representative survey of the city of Bremen, Germany (N = 2605), we predict life satisfaction from person‐group value congruence and neighbourhood social cohesion. We find no relationship between value congruence and social cohesion, but a significant positive moderating effect of social cohesion on the relationship between value congruence and life satisfaction. The findings suggest that sticking to common values does not increase social cohesion, but that positive effects of value congruence are more pronounced in high‐cohesion neighbourhoods.     

The effects of gender role orientation on team schema: a multivariate analysis of indicators in a US Federal health care organization

In this empirical study of 649 employees at a federally supported health care facility in the United States, the authors investigated the effects of individual gender role orientation on team schema. The results indicated (a) that nontraditional male and female employees perceived the greatest amount of group cohesion in their team schemas and (b) that both traditional and nontraditional male employees perceived greater problem-solving potential in their team schemas. Meaningful implications for team composition are discussed.