How Do Teams Become Cohesive? A Meta-Analysis of Cohesion\u27s Antecedents

While a wealth of research has deemed cohesion critical for team effectiveness (e.g., Mullen and Copper, 1994; Beal, et al., 2003), less emphasis has been placed on understanding how to get it. Multiple studies do examine cohesion antecedents, but these studies have not yet been integrated in either theoretical or empirical manners. The purpose of this study was thus to begin addressing this gap in the literature. I conducted a series of meta-analyses to identify and explore various antecedents of cohesion, as well as moderators of antecedent-cohesion relationships. Findings revealed a variety of cohesion antecedents. Specifically, team behaviors, emergent states, team composition variables, leadership variables, team interventions, and situational variables, as well as specific variables within each of these categories, were all explored as cohesion antecedents. In most cases, significant relationships with cohesion were demonstrated, and did not differ across levels of analysis or based on cohesion type (i.e., task cohesion, social cohesion, group pride). Hypotheses pertaining to moderators of antecedent-cohesion relationships (e.g., theoretical match between antecedent and cohesion) generally were not supported. Thus, while most antecedents appeared to be important for cohesion\u27s formation and sustainment, some interesting differences emerged, providing insight as to where attention should be focused when enhanced cohesion is desired. Results provide a foundation for the development of more comprehensive models of team cohesion, as well as insight into the mechanisms through which cohesion can be facilitated in practice. Ultimately, findings suggest that teams can become cohesive through the presence of various processes and emergent states, team interventions, and components of their situational context