The role of self-confidence in teamwork: Experimental evidence

Adrian Bruhin, Fidel Petros and Luis Santos-Pinto ()

Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior from WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Abstract: Teamwork has become increasingly important in modern organizations and the labor market. Yet little is known about the role of self-confidence in teamwork. In this paper, we present evidence from a laboratory experiment using a team effort task. Effort and ability are complements and there are synergies between teammates' efforts. We exogenously manipulate subjects' self-confidence in their ability using easy and hard general knowledge quizzes. We find that overconfidence leads to more effort, less free riding, and higher team revenue. These findings suggest that organizations could improve team performance by hiring overconfident workers.

Keywords: Teamwork; Self-Confidence; Effort; Free Riding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C71 C92 D83 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-neu
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Journal Article: The role of self-confidence in teamwork: experimental evidence (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:279569

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