Mitigating the Detrimental Impact of Maximum Negative Affect on Team Cohesion and Performance Through Face-to-Face Communication

Abstract

Research on team affective composition has been limited by primarily focusing on the influence of the mean level of team affect despite suggestions that even one affectively negative member may have a disproportionate influence on team functioning and outcomes. Drawing on key tenets of social interdependence theory and integrating team affect and communication research, we investigate the influence of the team member with the highest score on trait negative affect (maximum negative affect). We also highlight an important factor, face-to-face communication, that may mitigate the detrimental effect of maximum negative affect. Results show that the negative impact of team maximum negative affect on team cohesion, and the indirect effect on team performance behaviors through cohesion, is attenuated in teams that meet face-to-face more frequently. In addition, team performance behaviors mediate the indirect effect of cohesion on the team’s task performance outcome. Our findings make significant contributions to team affect research and also have important practical implications for managing negative affectivity in teams.