Thomas A. O'Neill

Examining the “Pros” and “Cons” of Team Conflict: A Team-Level Meta-Analysis of Task, Relationship, and Process Conflict

Jehn (e.g., 1997) offered three distinct types of team conflict, namely, task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. Despite existing meta-analyses, there remain important and ongoing issues that warrant further meta-analytic investigation. Our contribution is threefold. First, we report novel meta-analytic findings involving moderators of the conflict–team performance relationship. Second, we report on meta-analytic correlations involving all three conflict types and team innovation. Third, we report on the relations involving task conflict and relationship conflict with previously unexamined, but critical, teamwork variables: team potency, cooperative behaviors, competitive behaviors, and avoidance behaviors. Input for the current meta-analysis included 89 independent samples, 6,122 teams, and approximately 28,000 team members.

PTSD Symptoms and Pain in Canadian Military Veterans: The Mediating Roles of Anxiety, Depression, and Alcohol Use

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain are often comorbid among veterans. The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent symptoms of anxiety, depression, and alcohol use mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and pain among 113 treated male Canadian veterans. Measures of PTSD, pain, anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and alcohol use were collected as part of the initial assessment. The bootstrapped resampling analyses were consistent with the hypothesis of mediation for anxiety and depression, but not alcohol use. The confidence intervals did not include zero and the indirect effect of PTSD on pain through anxiety was .04, CI [.03, .07]. The indirect effect of PTSD on pain through depression was .04, CI [.02, .07]. These findings suggest that PTSD and pain symptoms among veterans may be related through the underlying symptoms of anxiety and depression, thus emphasizing the importance of targeting anxiety and depression symptoms when treating comorbid PTSD and pain patients.

An Overview of Interrater Agreement on Likert Scales for Researchers and Practitioners

Applications of interrater agreement (IRA) statistics for Likert scales are plentiful in research and practice. IRA may be implicated in job analysis, performance appraisal, panel interviews, and any other approach to gathering systematic observations. Any rating system involving subject-matter experts can also benefit from IRA as a measure of consensus. Further, IRA is fundamental to aggregation in multilevel research, which is becoming increasingly common in order to address nesting. Although, several technical descriptions of a few specific IRA statistics exist, this paper aims to provide a tractable orientation to common IRA indices to support application. The introductory overview is written with the intent of facilitating contrasts among IRA statistics by critically reviewing equations, interpretations, strengths, and weaknesses. Statistics considered include rwg, rwg*, r′wg, rwg(p), average deviation (AD), awg, standard deviation (Swg), and the coefficient of variation (CVwg). Equations support quick calculation and contrasting of different agreement indices. The article also includes a “quick reference” table and three figures in order to help readers identify how IRA statistics differ and how interpretations of IRA will depend strongly on the statistic employed. A brief consideration of recommended practices involving statistical and practical cutoff standards is presented, and conclusions are offered in light of the current literature.

The Association between Personality and Individual Differences and Stigma toward People with Mental Disorders

Although research examining the stigma of mental disorders is burgeoning, there has been little research exploring the personality and individual differences that may be associated with mental disorders stigma. The current study examined the relation between stigma toward mental disorders and social-psychological individual difference variables (intergroup anxiety, empathic concern, perspective taking, and modern prejudice toward people with mental disorders). As well, the Big Five and Honesty-Humility personality traits were examined at factor- and facet-levels to replicate and extend previous research that has examined their relations with stigma. The social-psychological individual difference variables were significantly correlated with mental disorders stigma. More interestingly, regression models indicated that intergroup anxiety, empathic concern, and modern prejudice accounted for more variance in the prediction of stigma than Big Five factors and facets. Additionally, results indicate the utility of examining factor- and facet levels, rather than only the factor level. These results highlight the need to further examine individual characteristics and personality in stigma research. To conclude, the current findings are discussed in the context of interventions aimed at reducing the stigma of mental disorders.

Test-taking motivation in promotional employment re-examinations.

Managing applicant reactions to entry-level selection processes has been the subject of considerable research, but studies are needed to uncover the process by which test-taking motivation (TTM) affects performance in promotional contexts. We address this gap by proposing and evaluating a process model of promotional exam performance in high-stakes decision-making situations. Our model invokes theory and research on the role of past exam performance, self-set exam goals, and TTM. Empirical findings from a Canadian sample of police officers provides a test of our process model and indicates that past performance on promotional exams influences TTM indirectly through goal difficulty, which in turn influences current exam performance. Implications for managing reactions in promotion contexts are discussed. La gestion des réactions de candidats lors de processus de sélection au niveau d’entrée a fait l’objet de recherches considérables mais d’autres études s’avèrent nécessaires pour comprendre le processus selon lequel la motivation à se soumettre à un test (TTM) a une incidence sur le rendement dans un contexte de promotion. Nous tentons de combler cette lacune en proposant et en évaluant un modèle de processus de rendement à un test à des fins promotionnelles dans des situations de prise de décision où les enjeux sont élevés. Notre modèle fait appel à la théorie et à la recherche sur le rôle du rendement lors de tests antécédents, d’objectifs fixés par rapport aux tests et de la TTM. Les résultats empiriques d’un échantillon d’agents de police canadiens fournissent une mise à l’essai de notre modèle de processus et indiquent que les rendements de tests promotionnels antérieurs influencent la TTM de manière indirecte à travers le degré de difficulté des objectifs, qui à son tour influe sur le rendement du test actuel. Les répercussions sur la gestion des réactions dans des contextes de promotion sont aussi discutés.

Team dynamics feedback for post-secondary student learning teams

Abstract In the current research, we introduce the team CARE model for supporting team development during post-secondary education. Team CARE is part of a larger suite of assessments at itpmetrics.com. Team CARE is a free, online, survey-based assessment that allows team members to rate their team’s health and functioning in four key categories (communicate, adapt, relate and educate), as well as provide written feedback about the team’s functioning to add nuance and supplemental context to the numeric scores. Team members completing the assessment receive a report documenting their team’s scores on the variables measured. We report on data from student learning teams suggesting that the variables in the team CARE model are reliable, and that they are correlated with team performance outcomes. Students’ perceptions of the tool were also examined, and the findings suggest that team CARE is perceived to be valuable, useful and easy to use. Recommendations for practice are detailed, including sample assessment schedules for teams with differing life spans. Implications for future research and implementation are discussed.

ASSESSING AND DEVELOPING THE INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM WORK ATTRIBUTE

Working effectively in teams is an essential skill that must be developed over the course of an engineering degree program. However, soft skills such as effective team behaviours can be difficult to assess and develop in students. Accordingly, the paper outlines our efforts to operationalize the Individual and Team Work attribute with the intention of outlining best practices in assessing, tracking, and enhancing the graduate attribute for both student development and accreditation purposes. A survey comprised of 40 Likert-scale items and 3 open-ended response questions was administered to all undergraduate students at a large North American university. The survey resulted in key findings, including that students rated their team work competencies significantly lower than they rated the perceived importance of those competencies for success in the workplace. Additionally, females reported significantly lower satisfaction and support in their team experiences than male students. These findings and others resulted in 12 evidence-based recommendations to strategically support the Individual and Team Work attribute.