From Me to We: the Role of the Psychological Contract in Team Formation

In this paper we integrate the psychological contract literature with the shared cognition and mental model literature to help explain team formation. The model attempts to illustrate how individuals, entering into a team relationship, may evolve into team players and thus develop outcomes that build positive attributions with the team. The model begins by exploring how the expectations an individual brings into a team situation forge a psychological contract with their team which ultimately affects the team's outcomes by influencing the mental models an individual associates with their team. The role of communication activities in this process is also discussed, since information exchange forms the basis for an individual's perceptions and judgments about their new environment. Finally, the moderating effect of trust is incorporated to help explain individual differences in "assessing" the impact of actions taken by other team members.

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