Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Rank Attainment: Examining The Nature And Function Of Dominance And Prestige In Teams, Lynden Jensen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social hierarchies are fundamental to human societies, shaping group dynamics and outcomes. Ongoing debates attempt to understand their functional and dysfunctional consequences. While the conflict account of hierarchy emphasizes the potentially detrimental conflict-inducing effects of hierarchies, the functionalist account proposes that hierarchies create contexts conducive to coordination. This study investigates if team-level dominance and prestige processes might account for these diverging consequences of hierarchy with dominance fueling conflict-prone environments and prestige nurturing coordination processes. Additionally, it examines whether the inherently competitive nature of team-level dominance yields more favorable outcomes in highly competitive, zero-sum, contexts.

Across two studies, I investigated the …

Demographic Faultlines And Team Cohesion On Team Performance, Maya S. Budovitch

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research examines team faultlines and their potential impact on team performance. Faultlines are defined as hypothetical dividing lines that split a group or team into two or more subgroups based on one or more individual attributes (e.g., gender and ethnicity). Investigations explored the possibility that team cohesion (i.e., team members’ attraction and commitment to their team) would moderate the relationship between faultlines and team performance. Participants (n = 867) completed The Task and Social Cohesion Questionnaire during one of two academic years (2013-14; 2014-15). Faultline strength was calculated for each team using two approaches, Thatcher’s Fau and Meyer’s Average …