چکیده (انگلیسی):

Attachment research to date has focused mostly on individuals and dyads
and has demonstrated the disadvantages of attachment insecurities. The
present study focuses on the potential positive effects of team-level
heterogeneity of attachment orientations on team functioning (suggested
by social defense theory) and examines the role of team cohesion in
facilitating these effects. Students enrolled in courses that included a team
project (N = 178 students comprising 52 teams) completed measures of
attachment anxiety and avoidance, team cohesion, and team functioning.
Their team performance evaluations were also assessed. Regression
analyses revealed that when team cohesion was high, team heterogeneity
in anxiety and avoidance scores was associated with better performance
evaluations, and team heterogeneity in anxiety was also associated with
better perceived functioning. Results highlight potential contributions
of insecure team members to project teams’ functioning, which were
heretofore overlooked in the literature, and suggest benefits of teams with
heterogeneity in attachment orientations.