Subgroup Formation in Human Robot Teams

Abstract

Subgroup formation is vital in understanding teamwork. It was not clear whether subgroup formation takes place in human–robot teams and what the implications of the subgroups might be for the team’s success. Therefore, we conducted an experiment with 44 teams of two people and two robots, where each team member worked with a robot to accomplish a team task. We found that subgroups were formed when team members identified with their robots and were inhibited when they identified with their team as a whole. Robot identification and team identification moderated the negative impacts of subgroup formation on teamwork quality and subsequent team performance.