The Too-Much-Talent Effect: Team Interdependence Determines When More Talent Is Too Much or Not Enough

Swaab, Roderick I.; Schaerer, Michael; Anicich, Eric M.; Ronay, Richard; Galinsky, Adam D.

doi:10.1177/0956797614537280

Cited by 110 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The structure of the hawk-dove game also indicates that the hawk-dove combination leads to better collective outcomes (higher pay-offs if you add both players' earnings together) than the hawk-hawk combination or the dove-dove combination. Recent evidence of status processes in human dyads and groups is also consistent with these principles of the hawk-dove game (e.g., Greer et al, 2011;Bendersky and Hays, 2012;Ronay et al, 2012;Swaab et al, 2014;Kilduff et al, 2016). For example, groups randomly assigned to have one dominant and one subordinate individual (hawk-dove combination) performed better on an interdependent task than groups randomly assigned to have all-dominant individuals (hawk-hawk); groups randomly assigned to have all-subordinate individuals (dove-dove) showed intermediate performance (Ronay et al, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 59%

Hormonal underpinnings of status conflict: Testosterone and cortisol are related to decisions and satisfaction in the hawk-dove game

Mehta

DesJardins

Vugt

et al. 2017

Hormones and Behavior

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A contribution to a special issue on Hormones and Human Competition.Testosterone is theorized to influence status-seeking behaviors such as social dominance and competitive behavior, but supporting evidence is mixed. The present study tested the roles of testosterone and cortisol in the hawk-dove game, a dyadic economic decision-making paradigm in which earnings depend on one's own and the other player's choices. If one person selects the hawk strategy and the other person selects the dove strategy, the player who selected hawk attains a greater financial pay-off (status differentiation). The worst financial outcome occurs when both players choose the hawk strategy (status confrontation). Ninety-eight undergraduate students (42 men) provided saliva samples and played ten rounds of the hawk-dove game with another same-sex participant. In support of the hypothesis that testosterone is related to status concern, individuals higher in basal testosterone made more hawk decisions - decisions that harmed the other player. Acute decreases in cortisol were also associated with more hawk decisions. There was some empirical support for the dual-hormone hypothesis as well: basal testosterone was positively related to satisfaction in the game among low basal-cortisol individuals but not among high basal-cortisol individuals. There were no significant sex differences in these hormonal effects. The present findings align with theories of hormones and status-seeking behavior at the individual level, but they also open up new avenues for research on hormone profiles at the collective level. Our results suggest that the presence of two or more high-testosterone members increases the likelihood of status confrontations over a limited resource that can undermine collective outcomes.

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mentioning

confidence: 59%

Hormonal underpinnings of status conflict: Testosterone and cortisol are related to decisions and satisfaction in the hawk-dove game

Mehta

DesJardins

Vugt

et al. 2017

Hormones and Behavior

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“…Some scholars argue that, under such circumstances, it becomes more important that all members can debate freely about how to work together. Yet, research suggests that these teams can experience disruptive process disputes when there are too many high-status "stars" posturing how to move forward (Groysberg, Polzer, & Elfenbein, 2011; see also Ronay et al, 2012;Swaab, Schaerer, Anicich, Ronay, & Galinsky, 2014). We therefore hypothesize that:…”

Section: Task Complexity Hierarchy Steepness and Intra-team Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

When and why hierarchy steepness is related to team performance

Cantimur

Rink²,

Vegt³

2016

European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

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This study develops and tests a contingency theory on the functions of status hierarchy steepness in teams. Findings from a field study among 438 employees working in 72 work teams across diverse business settings demonstrate that task complexity moderates the relationships between status hierarchy steepness, different types of team conflict, and team performance. Steeper status hierarchies were negatively related to both process and task conflict, and hence increased team performance in teams working on tasks with lower complexity but did not yield such clear conflict and performance effects in teams working on more complex tasks. By showing that various levels of task complexity determine whether status hierarchy steepness has a conflict-regulating function that drives team performance, this research generates valuable insights about the context dependency of team responses to status hierarchy steepness.

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“…Additional research [88] has also noted that baseball teams that are built on a more even distribution of observed talent perform better than those with a mixture of highly able and less able players. Indeed, the conclusion from an analysis of basketball data is that "when teams need to come together, more talent can tear them apart" (p. 1; [89]). …”

Section: Social Identity Approach To Sport 14mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Social Identity Approach to Sport Psychology: Principles, Practice, and Prospects

et al. 2015

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Drawing on social identity theory and self-categorization theory, we outline an approach to sport psychology that understands groups not simply as features of sporting contexts but rather as elements that can be, and often are, incorporated into a person's sense of self and, through this, become powerful determinants of their sport-related behavior. The underpinnings of this social identity approach are outlined, and four key lessons for sport that are indicative of the analytical and practical power of the approach are presented. These suggest that social identity is the basis for sports group (1) behavior, (2) formation and development, (3) support and stress appraisal, and (4) leadership. Building on recent developments within sport science, we outline an agenda for future research by identifying a range of topics to which the social identity approach could fruitfully contribute. Key Points• We outline a social identity approach to sport psychology based upon social identity and self-categorization theories.• We argue that this approach has the potential to make a significant, unique, and powerful contribution to the analysis of an array of phenomena and behaviors that are at the heart of sport and sport psychology.• In particular, the approach offers a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which individual psychology both structures, and is structured by, the dynamics of group life; this involves seeing groups not simply as features of sporting contexts but rather as elements that can be, and often are, incorporated into a person's sense of self and, through this, become powerful determinants of their sport-related behavior.

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The Too-Much-Talent Effect: Team Interdependence Determines When More Talent Is Too Much or Not Enough

Cited by 110 publications

References 24 publications

Hormonal underpinnings of status conflict: Testosterone and cortisol are related to decisions and satisfaction in the hawk-dove game

Hormonal underpinnings of status conflict: Testosterone and cortisol are related to decisions and satisfaction in the hawk-dove game

When and why hierarchy steepness is related to team performance

A Social Identity Approach to Sport Psychology: Principles, Practice, and Prospects

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