The Effects of Physical Threat on Team Processes During Complex Task Performance

Abstract

Teams have become the norm for operating in dangerous and complex situations. To investigate how physical threat affects team performance, 27 three-person teams engaged in a complex planning and problem-solving task, either under physical threat or under normal conditions. Threat consisted of the possibility that during task performance the oxygen level would be reduced (which, in reality, did not occur). Team processes were measured by automated behavior recordings and questionnaires. Results confirmed that physical threat caused restrictions in information processing, more controlling leadership, less group discussions, and a reduction in coordinating and supporting behavior. These results support the propositions of the threat-rigidity thesis and extend previous research by establishing these results for physical threat and demonstrating effects on coordinating and supporting behavior as well.

Designing Resilient Institutions for Transboundary Crisis Management: A Time for Public Administration

“…The combination of threat, urgency and uncertainty is rarely if ever used in laboratory settings, meaning that there is a dearth of reliable data on the reactions of (trained and untrained) crisis responders. Furthermore, it is questionable whether any laboratory setting can resemble a real crisis (but see Kamphuis et al ).…”

Cardiovascular reactivity and resistance to opposing viewpoints during intragroup conflict

“…Group members therefore tend to respond defensively to criticism; they rigidly hold on to their initial decision alternative and argue for it as a goal in itself, rather than trying to develop an accurate and deeper understanding of the decision at hand (e.g., Brodbeck, Kerschreiter, Mojzisch, & Schulz-Hardt, 2007;Greitemeyer & Schulz-Hardt, 2003).This rigidity in holding on to initially preferred decision alternatives is likely to be closely related to a state of threat during the conflict. That is, when individuals are threatened, they tend to become more biased towards information that supports their dominant viewpoint and become more reluctant to make adjustments to initial anchors (e.g., Fischer et al, 2011;Kamphuis, Gaillard, & Vogelaar, 2011;Kassam, Koslov, & Mendes, 2009;Staw, Sandelands, & Dutton, 1981). Individuals who are relatively threatened by a disagreement may therefore show a relatively strong resistance to opposing standpoints, as well as a tendency to rigidly hold on to initially preferred decision alternatives.…”

Does Power Distance Necessarily Hinder Individual Innovation? A Moderated-Mediation Model

“…[70]. Task characteristics usually exhibit complexity [71], interdependence [72], variability [73], and convention [74]. In most cases, task complexity is used to represent task characteristics, and task complexity is highly related to the strict discipline proposed by Hofstede and Minkov, so this paper also used task complexity to represent task characteristics.…”

“…In most cases, task complexity is used to represent task characteristics, and task complexity is highly related to the strict discipline proposed by Hofstede and Minkov, so this paper also used task complexity to represent task characteristics. Task complexity refers to the degree of dedicated resources that team members put into completing tasks [71], which is largely determined by the objective attributes of the tasks. Specifically, it includes three factors: the multiplicity of task processes, the multiplicity of task results, and the unknown elements of task processes and results.…”