When Do We Contribute to a Team? Three-way Interaction among Identifiability, Learning Goal Orientation, and Evaluation Purpose

Abstract

Research on teams has firmly established that identifiability is a key factor determining individuals’ contribution to a team. To better understand the link between identifiability and contribution, this study proposes two moderators: learning goal orientation (LGO) and evaluation purpose. Hypothesized relationships among these factors are tested using data collected from 96 undergraduates on 20 teams, divided into two conditions: developmental evaluation and administrative evaluation. The analysis results reveal that identifiability is positively related to individual contribution to the team as rated by peers. Analyses of the joint moderating effect of LGO and evaluation purpose show that the positive relationship is stronger for those with lower LGO, when the evaluation purpose is administrative. By contrast, when the evaluation purpose is developmental, the opposite pattern is observed. The implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.