Do Work Groups Have Personalities?

Abstract

Two studies examined whether work groups have personality characteristics. In Study 1, 212 workers from different organizations each listed five words that described their work group; 67 characteristics were mentioned by at least 2% of participants. The words mentioned most often to describe a work group were friendly and fun. Study 2 involved workers rating their various work groups on these 67 characteristics. Exploratory factor analysis with 419 workers indicated two factors in the ratings, with the first rotated factor predominant. The highest loading words on Factor 1 were supporting, understanding, and enjoyable, although friendly and fun also loaded highly on it. The overall loadings suggest a construct of group agreeableness. Additional analyses showed that scores on that factor were positively associated with scores on measures of job satisfaction and negatively associated with scores on a measure of intention to resign. The results of the two studies provide preliminary evidence that work groups have a personality-like characteristic that can be called agreeableness.