Individual and relational self‐concepts in a team context: Effects on task perceptions, trust, intrinsic motivation, and satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to understand the role of individual and relational self‐concepts on various team processes and outcomes in a team context.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants (n=470) worked in dyads on a computer‐based truck dispatching task, deciding as a team which task activities to perform and in what order. The authors assessed differential relationships between individual and relational self‐concepts and various team processes (e.g. trust) and outcomes (satisfaction).

Findings

Subjective task complexity was influenced primarily by individual self‐concept, specifically their core self‐evaluations. Trust in others was influenced primarily by individuals' relational self‐concepts, specifically their teamwork predisposition. Intrinsic motivation and satisfaction were influenced by both individual and relational self‐concepts.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should examine these effects in teams larger than dyads, with other types of tasks, over longer time periods, and with non‐college student samples.

Practical implications

Depending on the task type, a practitioner might cue different self‐concepts to increase individuals' focus on team performance, individual performance, or both. For example, if the team task is highly interdependent and reciprocal in nature, then the team can be trained together or provided information to cue relational self‐concept.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on the construct of individual and relational self‐concepts and their effects on individual functioning in a team context. The results support and extend prior research by demonstrating that outcomes in a team context can be identified and examined in relation to individual conceptions of the self, relational conceptions of the self, or by both.

Citation

Narayan, A. and Steele‐Johnson, D. (2012), "Individual and relational self‐concepts in a team context: Effects on task perceptions, trust, intrinsic motivation, and satisfaction", Team Performance Management, Vol. 18 No. 5/6, pp. 236-255. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527591211251122