UNTRUSTWORTHINESS IN STUDENT TEAMS: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT THINKING CULTURES OF THE U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA

Abstract

ABSTRACT An investigation of how untrustworthy student team member behavior relates to three important student team variables (teamwork, perceived team effectiveness, and student team satisfaction) is conducted across two cultures. Students from South Korea (representing holistic thinking styles) and U.S. students (representing analytic thinking styles) were found to have a consistent set of relationships. Untrustworthiness in student teams was found to negatively impact teamwork and perceived team effectiveness across both samples. Teamwork had a positive impact on perceived team effectiveness, and perceived team effectiveness was also found to have a direct, positive impact on student team satisfaction in both samples. However, there were also several important cultural differences uncovered in this study. As predicted, students representing holistic thinking styles were seen to have a direct (negative) relationship between untrustworthiness and student team satisfaction as well as a direct (positive) relationship between teamwork and student team satisfaction. These relationships were not expected to be found in the students representing analytic thinking styles. These findings contribute to our understanding of how to most effectively teach and develop pedagogical strategies with an increasingly diverse population of students. Implications and directions for future research are also highlighted in the research.