Identity Verification and Conflict in Distributed Teams

Abstract

Previous studies have explored self-verification theory to explain the relationship between self-verification and relationship conflict in collocated teams. This study expanded the application of self-verification theory in distributed team environments. More specifically, this study investigated the effects of similarity of personal identities on self-verification and the effects of self-verification on relationship conflict in both collocated and distributed teams. In addition to the self-verification theory, other identity related theories and communication theories were used to develop the hypotheses and to analyze the results. The hypotheses subsequently were tested using Partial Least Squares models. Participants of this study were members of one of the collocated or distributed engineering design teams. The findings show evidence of the moderation of team type on the relationship between self-verification and relationship conflict. The findings suggest that similarity of personal identities positively affects self-verification in collocated teams but not in distributed teams. Self-verification, in turn, reduces relationship conflict in collocated teams and increases relationship conflict in distributed teams. The implications of the findings on the theories, especially self-verification theory, are discussed.