Aligning our ABCs: applying the attribute alignment approach to team member cognition, affect, and behavior

Kyle J. Emich and Alayna M. Hernandez

Chapter 17 in Research Handbook on Group Decision Making, 2026, pp 341-359 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In this chapter, we extend the attribute alignment framework, which conceptualizes teams as complex systems composed of members whose multiple attributes interact to shape team processes and performance. Whereas prior work has primarily emphasized compositional attributes, the framework also acknowledges that the coexistence of team members’ affect, behavior, and cognition (the ABCs of teamwork) influences team processes and outcomes. We advance the attribute alignment framework into this space using the examples of collective efficacy, transactive memory, and anger in teams. In doing so, we outline a theoretical understanding of teams as complex, multilevel, dynamic systems, revisit how assumptions of convergence have been treated in the teams literature, and explore the practical implications of considering alignment across team members’ ABCs in addition to their individual differences. Our aim is to offer researchers a more nuanced lens for explaining and predicting team behavior, both theoretically and empirically.

Keywords: Team composition; Team affect; Team cognition; Attribute alignment; Collective efficacy; Transactive memory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035331239
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