Measuring “group cohesion” to reveal the power of social relationships in team production

Simon Gaechter (), Chris Starmer () and Fabio Tufano
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Simon Gaechter: University of Nottingham
Chris Starmer: University of Nottingham
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Simon Gächter

No 2022-12, Discussion Papers from The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham

Abstract: We introduce “group cohesion” to study the economic relevance of social relationships in team production. We operationalize measurement of group cohesion, adapting the “oneness scale” from psychology. A series of experiments, including a pre-registered replication, reveals strong positive associations between group cohesion and performance assessed in weak-link coordination games, with high-cohesion groups being very likely to achieve superior equilibria. In exploratory analysis, we identify beliefs rather than social preferences as the primary mechanism through which factors proxied by group cohesion influence group performance. Our evidence provides proof-of-concept for group cohesion as a useful tool for economic research and practice.

Keywords: group cohesion; social relationships; team production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-exp and nep-soc
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Working Paper: Measuring "Group Cohesion" to Reveal the Power of Social Relationships in Team Production (2022)
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