13.5a Interplay of social roles and status hierarchies in work teams

Aim of the project

The aim of this research is to understand under what circumstances specific role structures emerge, how status hierarchies and role pattern co-evolve in groups, and how they affect the group outcome.

Theoretical background

In groups, people often fulfill informal roles corresponding to various tasks that emerge naturally from their interactions (Vedres and Stark, 2010; Wittek, 2001; Zingg et al., 2023). For example, the innovator proposes new ideas, whereas the facilitator ensures that resources are managed efficiently. The outcome of a group depends on the kinds of roles within the group (Magee and Galinsky, 2008). We need to understand under what circumstances specific role structures form and enhance group outcomes. Research has shown that roles develop in tandem with status hierarchies (Gruenfeld and Tiedens, 2010), which rank group members based on characteristics like age, job seniority, or task competence (Ridgeway,1991). Such hierarchies can lead to inequalities, disadvantaging low-status members by limiting their authority, access to resources, and privileges (Ridgeway and Markus, 2022; Accominotti, Lynn and Sauder,2022). This imbalance of control can erode trust and cohesion within the group, negatively impacting individual contributions to the group and overall outcomes (Dijk and Wilke, 1994; Eckel, Fatas and Wilson, 2010; Mackay et al., 2021). Sociological theories explain this dysfunctional group state (Blau, 1964; Thye,2000), yet some evidence suggests that people avoid it by taking on specific roles independent of status (Vedres and Stark, 2010; Arazy et al., 2016; Yang et al., 2019). We lack an explanation of how the co-evolution of role distributions and status hierarchies affect group outcomes.

Experiments show that behavior is influenced not only by dyadic status relations (Blau, 1964; Thye, 2000) but also by cognitive mechanisms, such as beliefs about the entire status hierarchy, particularly regarding the significance of competition within that hierarchy (Andrews-Fearon and Davidai, 2023). However, cognitive mechanisms have mainly been studied on isolated individuals, not on interactions between individuals from which roles emerge. By identifying the status- and cognition-dependent conditions for certain role structures, we can examine how they contribute to group outcomes. In this project, we examine the emergence of roles from interactions shaped by status relations and theorizedcognitive mechanisms and explore their impact on group outcomes. This project addresses the lack of contemporary role theory in sociology and examines novel ways to address major societal issues such as inequality.

Research design

The project investigates the joint impact of status hierarchies and roles on group outcomes utilizing longitudinal data from teams of software developers. The data are collected in a field study and a behavioral experiment. They include surveys on perceived status relations and roles within the group as well as coediting patterns of source code extracted from software repositories like GitHub. Network analysis is used to operationalize role structures. The field study examines existing teams of software developers from industry and the open-source community to define relevant roles and link them to status hierarchies. We will build theory to suggest a cognitive mechanism that explains how status influences the formation of roles and test it in a behavioral experiment on collaborative computer science students.

Project

The project is funded partially by SCOOP and by the Swiss National Science Foundation through a Postdoc Mobility fellowship awarded to Ramona Roller.