Date of Award

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Amanda L. Thayer

Second Advisor

Jessica L. Wildman

Third Advisor

Meredith Carroll

Fourth Advisor

Robert Taylor

Abstract

Recent events surrounding the pandemic that started in 2020 have placed a premium on team resilience in the workplace. This thesis integrates team resilience and team composition research. Collective self-concept, need for closure, propensity to trust, and decision-making style are hypothesized to predict different facets of team resilience: minimizing, managing, and mending strategies (Alliger et al., 2015). These relationships are approached through the lens of team composition and appropriate operationalizations of team-level aggregation are explored to determine which team composition models are appropriate for predicting relationships between specific individual attributes and team resilience. Archival data from an experimental study was analyzed using multiple regression and relative weights analysis. The member highest on rational decision-making style was shown to impact the team resilience strategy of mending. Additionally, post-hoc analyses showed that the team mean of rational decision-making style impacted mending behaviors and that maximum propensity to trust was related to managing. These results indicate that the relative contribution model is a stronger predictor of team resilience than the team profile model, for predictors of propensity to trust and rational decision-making style. The results of this study can guide organizations in the selection and configuration of team members for high-stress teams. Sometimes one member on the team can account for considerable team resilience outcomes.

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