Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Shanique Brown

Abstract

In order to meet demands in contexts where multiple goals exist, and unexpectedchallenges are presented, team-level regulation that addresses conflict and allows teams to adapt is particularly important. The model proposed in this study attempts to explain the process by which teams maintain performance in a context where multiple goals are present by a) integrating Burke et al.’s (2006) theory of adaptive performance with the SOC model to include specific adaptive strategies that lead to team performance and b) extending the SOC model to include the team-level of analysis. Specifically, I argue SOC can be conceptualized at the team level as a team strategy mental model that represents a shared understanding of goal selection strategies, the need to manage resources among strategic alternatives, and the implications of strategic decisions on goal pursuits in a multi-goal context. That is, when faced with limited resources, teams may engage in strategies that are conceptually similar to those described by the SOC model at the individual-level. To address some concerns related to the study of teams in laboratory settings, a novel escape room task was implemented with the goal of presenting participants with novel attributes that are uncommon in work or educational locations. In support of hypothesis one, results show that SOC mental model similarity and accuracy have a significant amount of variation at the team levels, as indicated by their ICC(1) values (SOC MM Similarity, ICC(1) = 0.52, p <0.01; SOC MM Accuracy, ICC(1) = 0.17, p <0 .01). Additionally, this between level variance is related to goal conflict, but in the opposite direction of what was proposed in hypothesis two, that is SOC mental model similarity and accuracy are negatively related to goal conflict (rsimilarity = -0.32, p < 0.01; raccuracy = -0.42, p < 0.01). In support of hypothesis three, team performance is related to both SOC MM Similarity and Accuaacy (rsimilarity = 0.68, p < 0.01; raccuracy = 0.63, p < 0.01). Hypothesis four specified a mediation model such that composite SOC MM Similarity and Accuracy would mediate the relationship between goal conflict and team performance. This hypothesis was supported for SOC MM Similarity (indirect effect = -43.64, 95% bias-corrected bootstrap CI [-71.56, -15.71]) but not Accuracy. Finally, partially supporting hypothesis five, compensation mental model similarity measured at the execution phase mediated the goal conflict to team performance relationship (indirect effect = -0.25, 95% bias-corrected bootstrap CI [-32.176, -1.643]). In sum, this study was able to lay the ground work for further research on SOC at the team level, and may have practical implications such as informing team adaptive performance training.

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