Toxic team climate: The causal role of psychopathic personality and lack of teamwork knowledge in dysfunctional team outcomes

We identify the central role of toxic team climate in understanding dysfunctional work teams. We develop and test a model identifying team-level psychopathic personality and teamwork knowledge as proximal contributors to the creation of toxic team climates, which mediates the effects to create dysfunctional team outcomes. We also tested an alternative model that treats teamwork knowledge as a moderator of the relationship between team psychopathy and toxic team climate. Using a four-wave longitudinal design, we evaluated these models in a sample of 508 business students comprising 107 student teams (35 MBA and 72 undergraduate) completing semester-long team projects. Results indicate that (1) teams with relatively higher levels of psychopathy and lower levels of teamwork knowledge were more likely to have toxic team climates, (2) teams with more toxic climates had higher levels of social loafing and interpersonal deviance, and lower team performance and satisfaction, and (3) the effects of psychopathy on dysfunctional outcomes were mediated by toxic team climate, but the effects of teamwork knowledge were not. In addition, teamwork knowledge moderated the relationship between team psychopathy and toxic team climate by reducing its effects. The study yields implications for the management of toxic work teams.