Asymmetry in task dependence among team members

Many of us spend a large part of our lives working in work teams, and our experiences in these teams can significantly influence our well-being, health and happiness (e.g., Sonnentag, 1996). As a result, gaining a deeper understanding of the organization and functioning of work teams is not just interesting, but could also lead to such desirable results as increased well-being or improved team performance (e.g., Ostroff, 1992). One of the more important theories that both practitioners and scholars use for understanding the functioning of work teams is inter-dependence theory (e.g., Thibaut & Kelley, 1959). This thesis aims to further the understanding of interdependence in work teams by investigating the role of differences or asymmetries in dependence between team members. These asymmetries in dependence occur when a team member (A) is more dependent on another team member (B) to complete his or her task, than B is dependent on A (e.g., Kelley & Thibaut, 1978). This vital element of interdependence has been largely overlooked in research so far, and in this thesis I aim to fill this gap in the interdependence literature