“… with a little help from my friends”: friendship, effort norms, and group motivation gain

An empirical link between motivation gain and NBA statistics: applying hierarchical linear modelling

BACKGROUND

This study tested whether the motivation gain in groups is the result of social compensation or the Köhler effect by examining scaled individual salaries of National Basketball Association (NBA) players. Both factors explain the positive effects of a group, unlike social loafing. However, differing causes in motivation gain relate to whether players are low or high performers and the Köhler effect or social compensation.

METHODS

To test motivation gain, this study used 11-year NBA statistical data of 3247 players by applying hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) and HLM 7.0 was used for analysis. The players' individual statistics and annual salaries were collected from the NBA and ESPN websites, respectively. Whereas previous studies have looked at motivation gain through track-and-field and swimming relay records, this study verified motivation gain through salary variations among NBA players and their affiliated teams.

RESULTS

The high performers, while selecting teams with larger performance gaps among team members, earned a higher salary than while selecting teams with lower performance gaps among team members. This study found that motivation gain existed in high performers, which can be interpreted as support for social compensation rather than the Köhler effect.

CONCLUSIONS

We used our result to elucidate the basis for play-by-play decisions made by individuals and team behaviour. Our results are applicable for the enhancement of coaching strategies, ultimately improving team morale and performance. It can be interpreted that the motivation gains of high performers in the NBA are driven by the Cost Component of the Team member Effort Expenditure Model (TEEM), rather than the Expectancy and Value Components.

How Do Friends and Strangers Play the Game Taboo? A Study of Accuracy, Efficiency, Motivation, and the Use of Shared Knowledge

According to common belief, friends communicate more accurately and efficiently than strangers, because they can use uniquely shared knowledge and common knowledge to explain things to each other, while strangers are restricted to common knowledge. To test this belief, we asked friends and strangers to play, via e-mail and face-to-face, the word-description game Taboo, in which objects need to be described without using certain "taboo" words. When descriptions were sent via e-mail, there was no difference in accuracy (number of correct answers) nor in efficiency (number of words per correct answer) between friends and strangers. When descriptions were given face-to-face, friends were more accurate than strangers, but not more efficient (number of seconds and words per correct answer). Shared knowledge did not predict accuracy or efficiency. Hence, our findings do not support the idea that friends only need a few words to understand each other.

Friends With Performance Benefits: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Friendship and Group Performance

The current article examines if, and under which conditions, there exists a positive relationship between working with friends and group performance. To do so, using data from 1,016 groups obtained from 26 studies, we meta-analyzed comparisons of the performance of friendship groups versus acquaintance groups. Results show that friendship has a significant positive effect on group task performance (Cohen's d = 0.31). Furthermore, this relationship was moderated by group size (i.e., the positive effect of friendship on performance increased with group size) and task focus (i.e., friendship groups performed better than acquaintance groups on tasks requiring a high quantity of output, whereas there was no performance benefit on tasks requiring a single or high-quality output). These results help to reconcile mixed findings and illustrate when friendship groups are more likely to perform better than acquaintance groups.

Introductory Dialogue and the Köhler Effect in Software-Generated Workout Partners

OBJECTIVES

This study explored the Köhler motivation gain effect utilizing adults and software-generated partners (SGPs) during an abdominal exercise regimen and compared the type of participant-SGP introductory dialogue as a moderator. The Köhler effect applies interdependent team dynamics in which group performance is dependent upon the weaker member. The third objective was to examine if this motivation paradigm would result in adverse consequences to secondary variables: exertion, enjoyment, and self-efficacy beliefs.

DESIGN

Adults (M_age = 38.8 +/- 7.7) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: Interactive Partner SGP (IP), Linear Dialogue Partner SGP (LDP), or individual control (IC), to complete a series of abdominal exercises. The experiment used a 3 (condition) x 2 (gender) ANCOVA design, with a baseline block of exercises as a covariate.

METHOD

Participants completed abdominal exercises individually and, after a rest, repeated the same exercises with either an SGP programmed to be moderately stronger or individually (IC). Prior to the second exercise block, IP participants interacted with the SGP using a dialog tree optional-response format. The LDP participant introduction was a linear, scripted exchange of basic information.

RESULTS

The LDP and IP conditions persisted significantly longer than IC, generating moderate effect sizes (d = .62; d = .76). The mean difference between partnered conditions was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The Köhler motivation exercise paradigm resulted in a considerable increase in persistence (M_adj = 28.9, SE = 10.6) in the first study to use middle-aged adults with superior SGPs. Differences between introductory dialogue methods were not significant.

Sleep Deprivation Impairs and Caffeine Enhances My Performance, but Not Always Our Performance

What effects do factors that impair or enhance performance in individuals have when these individuals act in groups? We provide a framework, called the GIE ("Effects of Grouping on Impairments and Enhancements") framework, for investigating this question. As prominent examples for individual-level impairments and enhancements, we discuss sleep deprivation and caffeine. Based on previous research, we derive hypotheses on how they influence performance in groups, specifically process gains and losses in motivation, individual capability, and coordination. We conclude that the effect an impairment or enhancement has on individual-level performance is not necessarily mirrored in group performance: grouping can help or hurt. We provide recommendations on how to estimate empirically the effects individual-level performance impairments and enhancements have in groups. By comparing sleep deprivation to stress and caffeine to pharmacological cognitive enhancement, we illustrate that we cannot readily generalize from group results on one impairment or enhancement to another, even if they have similar effects on individual-level performance.

Relational Perspectives on Leaders’ Influence Behavior

To understand leader influence behavior in organizations, it is essential to understand how subordinates interpret the different influence strategies used by their superiors. In this study, we examine the effect of influence behavior on organizational commitment from two relational perspectives with employees from Chinese and Western societies. Drawing on relational attribution theory, we develop a multiple mediation model to determine whether the relationships between influence behavior and organizational commitment are meditated by leader–member exchange (LMX) and/or guanxi. We also examine whether the effects vary across the two broad cultural samples. Results indicate the mediating effect is contributed mainly by LMX, not guanxi. Results show no significant cross-cultural differences, suggesting the theoretical framework we propose may be generalizable across cultures. Implications and ideas for future research are provided.

Aerobic exercise is promoted when individual performance affects the group: a test of the Kohler motivation gain effect

BACKGROUND

A key barrier to achieving recommended intensity and duration of physical activity is motivation.

PURPOSE

We investigated whether a virtually present partner would influence participants' motivation (duration) during aerobic exercise.

METHOD

Fifty-eight females (M(age) = 20.54 ± 1.86) were randomly assigned to either a coactive condition (exercising alongside another person, independently), a conjunctive condition (performance determined by whichever partner stops exercising first) where they exercised with a superior partner, or to an individual condition. Participants exercised on a stationary bike at 65 % of heart rate reserve on six separate days.

RESULTS

Across sessions, conjunctive condition participants exercised significantly longer (M = 21.89 min, SD = ±10.08 min) than those in coactive (M = 19.77 min, SD = ± 9.00 min) and individual (M = 10.6 min, SD = ±5.84 min) conditions (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Exercising with a virtually present partner can improve performance on an aerobic exercise task across multiple sessions.