Can We Get Some Cooperation Around Here? The Mediating Role of Group Norms on the Relationship Between Team Personality and Individual Helping Behaviors

Drawing on the group-norms theory of organizational citizenship behaviors and person-environment fit theory, we introduce and test a multilevel model of the effects of additive and dispersion composition models of team members' personality characteristics on group norms and individual helping behaviors. Our model was tested using regression and random coefficients modeling on 102 research and development teams. Results indicated that high mean levels of extraversion are positively related to individual helping behaviors through the mediating effect of cooperative group norms. Further, low variance on agreeableness (supplementary fit) and high variance on extraversion (complementary fit) promote the enactment of individual helping behaviors, but only the effects of extraversion were mediated by cooperative group norms. Implications of these findings for theories of helping behaviors in teams are discussed.close

Collective fit perceptions: A multilevel investigation of person-group fit with individual-level and team-level outcomes

This study describes a multilevel examination of person-group (PG) fit perceptions in a sample of 1023 individuals working in 92 teams at a private sector R&D firm. Using confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel random coefficient modeling, we provide evidence that perceptions of team-level collective fit are unique from aggregated individual-level PG fit perceptions at the individual and team levels. We demonstrate that collective values-based and abilities-based fit perceptions showed unique and positive relationships with team cohesion, team efficacy, and team performance, after accounting for aggregated individual perceptions of PG fit. Results also demonstrate that cohesion partially mediates the relationship between collective fit and team performance. Cross-level effects were also supported, indicating that collective fit explains additional variance in individual-level outcomes, beyond individual-level PG fit perceptions. The usefulness of employing a multilevel approach to studying PG fit is discussed.close0

Interleukin-6, Cortisol, and Depressive Symptoms in Ovarian Cancer Patients

Purpose Inflammatory processes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of both depression and cancer. Links between depressive symptoms, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and cortisol dysregulation have been demonstrated in cancer patients, but vegetative versus affective components of depression have been minimally examined. The objective of the current study was to examine associations between IL-6, diurnal cortisol rhythms, and facets of depression in epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Patients and Methods Patients awaiting surgery for a pelvic mass suspected for ovarian cancer completed questionnaires, collected salivary samples for 3 days presurgery, and gave a presurgical blood sample. Ascites was obtained during surgery. IL-6 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and cortisol by a chemiluminescence immunoassay. The final sample included 112 invasive ovarian cancer patients (86 advanced stage, 26 early stage) and 25 patients with tumors of low malignant potential (LMP). Results Advanced-stage ovarian cancer patients demonstrated elevations in vegetative and affective depressive symptoms, plasma IL-6, and the cortisol area under the curve (AUC) compared with patients with LMP tumors (all P .05). Among invasive ovarian cancer patients, greater vegetative depression was related to elevated IL-6 in plasma (P .008) and ascites (P .024), but affective depression was unrelated to IL-6. Elevations in total depression (P .026) and vegetative depression (P .005) were also related to higher evening cortisol levels. Plasma IL-6 was related to greater afternoon and evening cortisol and cortisol AUC (all P values .005). Conclusion These results demonstrate significant relationships between IL-6, cortisol, and vegetative depression, and may have implications for treatment of depression in ovarian cancer patients

The postsynaptic density 95/disc-large/zona occludens protein syntenin directly interacts with frizzled 7 and supports noncanonical Wnt signaling.

Wnt signaling pathways are essential for embryonic patterning, and they are disturbed in a wide spectrum of diseases, including cancer. An unresolved question is how the different Wnt pathways are supported and regulated. We previously established that the postsynaptic density 95/disc-large/zona occludens (PDZ) protein syntenin binds to syndecans, Wnt coreceptors, and known stimulators of protein kinase C (PKC)alpha and CDC42 activity. Here, we show that syntenin also interacts with the C-terminal PDZ binding motif of several Frizzled Wnt receptors, without compromising the recruitment of Dishevelled, a key downstream Wnt-signaling component. Syntenin is coexpressed with cognate Frizzled during early development in Xenopus. Overexpression and down-regulation of syntenin disrupt convergent extension movements, supporting a role for syntenin in noncanonical Wnt signaling. Syntenin stimulates c-jun phosphorylation and modulates Frizzled 7 signaling, in particular the PKCalpha/CDC42 noncanonical Wnt signaling cascade. The syntenin-Frizzled 7 binding mode indicates syntenin can accommodate Frizzled 7-syndecan complexes. We propose that syntenin is a novel component of the Wnt signal transduction cascade and that it might function as a direct intracellular link between Frizzled and syndecans.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Channeled Autonomy: The Joint Effects of Autonomy and Feedback on Team Performance Through Organizational Goal Clarity

Past research suggests that autonomy has highly variable effects on team performance, and that one explanation for this pattern of findings is that autonomous teams fall into a state of disorder where they lack clarity regarding the goals of the broader organization. Following this perspective, the authors develop a model proposing that performance feedback coupled with high autonomy enables teams to have greater clarity of the organization???s goals, which in turn increases team performance. This model was tested on 110 teams in a defense industry manufacturing firm in South Korea using mediated-moderation techniques. Results indicate that highly autonomous teams that receive a high degree of performance feedback outperform other teams because of their heightened level of organizational goal clarity. In contrast, highly autonomous teams that receive low levels of feedback perform at the lowest levels compared to other teams because of a lack of organizational goal clarity. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for theory, research, and practice.clos