Effect of Social Hierarchy on Conflict in teams: From a Structural Perspective

Social hierarchy is a fundamental feature of social relations, and it has two functions that are especially important for teams that lack formal hierarchy: coordination and motivation. Individuals with high status are more likely to perform leadership behaviors in teams, but it may also cause conflict by activating threat and distrust when team members perceive that leadership behavior is misaligned with social hierarchies. The misalignment can be complex because social hierarchy has multiple forms, such as status and power, and multiple levels, such as team and organizational levels. The current study investigates (1) how the inconsistency between status at the organizational level and status at the team level affects relationship conflict in teams and (2) how team member’s needs for status moderate status inconsistency-conflict relationship. Data was collected from a sample of MBA student teams at a large mid-western university in the United States. Results show that team members who have high status at the organizational level but low status at the team level seem to experience more relationship conflict in teams and that this conflict is exacerbated when counterparts have high needs for status