From an organisational perspective, the potential benefits of enhancing workplace cohesion
are many, amongst which an increase in employee performance would be the most tangible
and possibly the most desirable. The primary aim of the present research was to explore
the capacity to increase levels of cohesion, and therefore facilitate team building, through
the use of cooperative multiplayer computer gaming (CMCG). Study 1, involving 26 male
and 23 female university students, required participants to play two, twenty minute, games
of the commercially available computer game QUAKE(tm) as teams of 3 or of 4, against an
equal number of computer generated artificial intelligence opposition. The interpersonal
attraction and task focus facets of Cohesion, as well as Stress and Mood State, were
measured using self-report questionnaires at both the pre- and post-test stages of the
experiment. Results supported the prediction that exposing individuals to a computer game
of a cooperative and interdependent nature would increase self-rated levels of cohesion, on
both the interpersonal attraction and task focus sub-scales. Study 2 aimed to expand upon
the findings of study 1, increasing the generalisability of the study 1 findings by surveying
existing teams engaging in CMCG via the Internet. Those surveyed were individuals who
currently played the Team Fortress module of QUAKE�, and who belonged to a Team
Fortress Clan - the CMCG equivalent of a social sporting team. Individuals playing
QUAKE(tm) via the Internet were found to be as cohesed with their team members as were
the laboratory participants after the CMCG intervention. Further, important group dynamic
factors evident in Team Fortress Clans, such as success being linked with higher levels of
cohesion, were consistent with literary considerations regarding conventional, non-CMCG
teams. Additional research exploration is required regarding the utility of CMCG,
however, the present research indicates that such an exploration is warranted and should
produce positive and practical results.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218875 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Davidson, Rick, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Human & Biomedical Sciences |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Rick Davidson |
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