Differences in the Valuing of Power Among Team Members: a Contingency Approach Toward Examining the Effects of Power Values Diversity and Relationship Conflict

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the conditional effects of power values diversity and relationship conflict. We utilized a time-lagged survey design and multilevel modeling to investigate 60 teams working on a project task over the course of 4 months. When participative safety climate was high, the presence of high power values diversity was particularly helpful for reducing relationship conflict. In turn, decreased relationship conflict tended to increase team performance. Additionally, when workload sharing was low, high relationship conflict was especially harmful to team performance. Results support the consideration of team participative safety climate to better understand the conditions under which power values diversity is likely to lessen relationship conflict and subsequently increase team performance. Findings also highlight the importance of avoiding low workload sharing, in the presence of prominent relationship conflict, to increase team performance. By examining relationship conflict as a mediator and participative safety climate as a moderator of power values diversity’s effects, we make a novel contribution to extant literature by helping to elucidate both how and under what conditions differences in power values, among team members, can influence team performance. Relatedly, we answer the call for more research that adopts a contingency approach toward examining the effects of values diversity and relationship conflict. In doing so, we help to identify the conditions under which power values diversity and relationship conflict are likely to differentially influence important team outcomes.