Group, team, or something in between? Conceptualising and measuring team entitativity

Abstract

The current gap between traditional team research and research focusing on non-strict teams or groups such as teacher teams hampers boundary-crossing investigations of and theorising on teamwork and collaboration. The main aim of this study includes bridging this gap by proposing a continuum-based team concept, describing the distinction between strict teams and mere collections of individuals as the degree of team entitativity. The concept entitativity is derived from social psychology and further developed and integrated in team research. Based upon this concept and core team definitions, the defining features shaping teams’ degree of entitativity are determined: shared goals and responsibilities; cohesion (task cohesion and identification); and interdependence (task and outcome). Furthermore, a questionnaire is developed to empirically grasp these features. The questionnaire is tested in two waves of data collection (N1=1,320; N2=731). Based upon a combination of Classical Test Theory analyses (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses) and Item Response Theory analyses, the questionnaire is developed. The final questionnaire consists of three factors: shared goals and cohesion, task interdependence, and outcome interdependence. Further psychometric analyses include the investigation of validity, longitudinal measurement invariance, and test-retest reliability. This manuscript describes frontline research by: (1) developing a new conceptualisation transcending the variety in terminology and definitions used in team and group research by creating a shared language and opening up team research to non-strict teams and (2) combining two methodological traditions regarding questionnaire development and validation (Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory).