December 8, 1999

Contact: David Partenheimer
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Stress May Interfere with Your Desire To Be A Team Player

Study's Findings Explain Why Groups Tend to Function Less Effectively Under Stress

Washington - In the business world, work teams are often called upon to accomplish complex tasks under crisis conditions. However, new research shows that such groups function less effectively under stress, and stress may lead to team members barely acknowledging one another.

The study, published in the December issue of the American Psychological Association (APA) journal Group Dynamics, Theory, Research, and Practice, involved 95 U.S. Navy technical school personnel who volunteered to take part in a study of decision making. Each participant was assigned to a three-person group, which was given a computer simulation of a naval decision-making task. The task required that participants monitor a radar screen that contained their own ship at the center and numerous unidentified contacts positioned at concentric rings away from the ship. The objective was to identify and label each contact according to three classifications: type of craft (aircraft, surface craft, or subsurface), its status (civilian or military), and intentions of the craft (hostile or peaceful). Participants performed the task in either a normal stress or high-stress environment.

As expected, the results of the experiment showed that participants operating under high stress performed worse than those operating under normal stress conditions. However, what was less expected was the way in which stress interfered with team performance. Results indicated that stress led to a narrowing of team perspective. That is, under stress, team members' focus of attention shifted from group goals to a more narrow or individualistic perspective. Moreover, this loss of team perspective resulted in a breakdown in team performance.

Although the general effects of stress on performance are well known, the way in which stress disrupts team performance has been poorly understood. The results of this study show that one way in which stress disrupts team performance is by narrowing or weakening the broad team perspective required for effective team behavior.

The researchers say that one approach to maintaining effective team performance in a stressful situation is to simplify the task. "For those settings in which effective teamwork is critical, it may be necessary to structure the task to make it less demanding, such as delegating subtasks so that attention can be maintained on essential task and teamwork cues," said the authors. They concede, however, that for many real world tasks, reducing the complexity of the task environment is a difficult undertaking.

A second approach to counter the effect of stress on narrowing team perspective is to strengthen team perspective. "It is possible that, for many team tasks, the importance of teamwork behaviors such as coordination and communication may be perceived as secondary to other basic, individual task demands," said the authors. As an example, in sports such as soccer, "when teams get behind, team members often ignore team play, and each person tries to win the game on his or her own, with predictable results." Interventions that attempt to enhance team perspective, such as team building, may counter the effects of stress.

Article: "Does Stress Lead to a Loss of Team Perspective?," James E. Driskell, Ph.D., Florida Maxima Corporation; Eduardo Salas, Ph.D., University of Central Florida; and Joan Johnston, Ph.D., Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division; Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol. 3, No. 4.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or after 12/3/99 at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/gdn34291.pdf.

James E. Driskell, Ph.D., can be reached at (407) 647-8021

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 159,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 52 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 59 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.

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