Mediating effects of psychological safety in the relationship between team affectivity and transactive memory systems

Abstract

Summary In this research, we develop a framework for understanding the emergence of transactive memory systems (TMS) in project‐based teams characterized by different levels of group level positive affectivity (PA) and negative affectivity (NA). With a focus on enhancing understanding of the means of transmission, we test the mediating role played by group level psychological safety (PS) in the relationship between team affectivity and TMS. From a sample of 107 software implementation project teams, in a lagged field study, we find support for a mediated model in which high group NA, but not group PA, promotes environments psychologically unsafe for interpersonal risk‐taking (low PS) and which are negatively associated with TMS. This study extends prior research on the differential effects of PA and NA, by contributing to the limited research on group affectivity, environmental antecedents of TMS, and the mediating role of PS for predicting group level transactive processes and structures. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Team Emergent States: What Has Emerged in The Literature Over 20 Years

“…Antecedents examined vary across team cognition constructs but focus on team design factors, finding geographic distance (O’Leary & Mortensen, 2010) and interdependence (Zhang et al, 2007) positively influence, while role stressors deter (Pearsall et al, 2009), TMS. Also, familiarity (Lewis, 2004) and expertise (Bunderson, 2003) facilitate, while negative affectivity (Hood et al, 2016), discourages TMS. Team design (e.g., virtuality and role differentiation; Levesque et al, 2001; McComb et al, 2010) fosters SMMs.…”

Measuring the Psychological Security of Urban Residents: Construction and Validation of a New Scale

“…The scale contains seven self-evaluation items, and there are no separate dimensions. Most researchers have used a revised version of this scale (Pearsall and Ellis, 2011; Leroy et al, 2012; Hood et al, 2016). The Psychological Climate Scale developed by Brown and Leigh (1996) is widely used in organizational-level studies (Ogilvie et al, 2017; Ho et al, 2018) and includes measurement of supportive management, role clarity, contribution, recognition, self-expression, and challenges, consisting of 21 items.…”

Adaptation and validation of the Transactive Memory System Scale in Sport (TMSS-S)

“…30 These results are coherent with the original scale 6 and with previous studies in which this scale was used. 4,5,12…”

“…1–4 Accordingly, the concept of transactive memory has had a strong impact on work groups. 5,6 This concept refers to the cooperative division of work that occurs among the members of a team to acquire, encode, store, retrieve, and remember relevant knowledge about the different facets of the team and its activities. 7,8 However, this concept, which could help to understand the influence of group cognition and lead to various questions about the effectiveness of sports teams, has not yet been addressed in the world of sports.…”