Play the Game: Evaluation of Psychological Capital, Emotional Intelligence, and Virtual Team Performance among Online Gaming Teams

Abstract

Virtual teams are becoming ubiquitous with the contemporary work environment. Shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated many to reconceive the workplace whereby people accomplished work no longer located in immediate proximity, leading many teams to engage online in virtual spaces. Even in a post-lockdown world, virtual teams have remained widely used within the workplace. Online gaming has exploded in popularity, it allows people to interact with others from across the world. Numerous parallels exist between online gaming teams and problem-solving teams often used in the contemporary workplace: 1) pursuing a shared goal; 2) identifying member roles; and 3) collaborating together to accomplish a task. The purpose of our research is to examine the role that psychological capital and emotional intelligence play in team success within an online gaming team challenge. Participants will compete in an online video game event, where their goal, as a 6-player team, is to solve a set of challenges within 24 hours. The researchers will conduct a content analysis of participant recordings from the event. Findings and implications will be discussed. Understanding member interaction among online gaming teams has potential implications for how workplace teams can interact more effectively together.