How Incomplete Information of Team Member Contributions Affects Subsequent Contributions: The Moderating Role of Social Value Orientation

ABSTRACT This study investigates how team members' social value orientation (SVO) affects their contributions to a team project when different types of information about other team members' effort is known. Specifically, we examine the team contributions made by proselfs and prosocials after they learn either the input provided or output achieved by other team members. Proselfs subsequently contributed less following input information compared to output information because they can use input information opportunistically to justify their own lower contributions. Conversely, prosocials contributed more after receiving input information compared to output information because they perceive input information as being more psychologically meaningful. Finally, proself teams with output information perform similarly to prosocial teams with either type of information. These findings provide insight into how information about team member contributions and SVO affects individuals' subsequent team contributions, and how output information can help mitigate proselfs' free-riding tendencies and improve team performance.