Abstract

Working from home as part of a virtual team has become the status quo for many workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, modern organizations require teams skilled at complex problem-solving, innovation, and adaptability. Psychological safety enhances these skills, by means of fostering an environment in which team members can fully engage and learn. Given the theoretical possibility that team virtuality may dampen the development of team psychological safety, the present study empirically investigated relationship between these two constructs. A hypothesized model was tested, in which team virtuality has an indirect effect on team psychological safety, via intrateam perceived other-to-self peer support, and self-and-other anonymity. I recruited 213 participants via an online platform for pay. The participants were randomly assigned into 71 teams of three members to perform a 30-minute distributed expertise task. Each team was randomly assigned to one of three virtuality conditions, operationalized as the media richness of the computer technology they were required to use to communicate. Results demonstrated that, as team virtuality decreased (i.e., richer media technology), perceived peer support and team psychological safety increased, as did objective measures of team performance. In contrast, perceived anonymity decreased, but the relationship between anonymity and team psychological safety was not statistically significant. Scholarly and practical implications are discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Min, Hanyi

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0009053; DP0026386

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026386

Language

English

Release Date

May 2022

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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