Too close for comfort? Distinguishing between team intimacy and
team cohesion
Lisa Rosh
a,
⁎
, Lynn R. Offermann
b,1
, Rhonda Van Diest
c,2
a
Department of Management, Yeshiva University, New York, NY 10016, USA
b
Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
c
SeKON Enterprise, Inc., Herndon VA 20171, USA
article info abstract
The authors examine theory and research on team intimacy and team cohesion, and argue that
the two have often been confused, merged, and used interchangeably in recent theoretical,
empirical, and applied work on team effectiveness. The authors propose distinct definitions
to clarify and distinguish between team intimacy and team cohesion, and suggest areas that
will aid research and application. Their examination provides a framework for understanding
the inconsistent findings in team effectiveness and team building research and thus helps to
improve human resource management (HRM) interventions.
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Cohesion
Intimacy
Team performance
Contents
1. Introduction ...................................................... 117
2. Team performance ................................................... 117
3. Cohesion........................................................ 118
3.1. Definition .................................................... 118
3.2. Cohesion–performance effect ........................................... 119
4. Intimacy ........................................................ 120
4.1. Definition .................................................... 120
4.2. Intimacy–performance effect ........................................... 120
5. Methodological issues.................................................. 121
6. The relationship between cohesion and intimacy ..................................... 121
7. The confounding of cohesion and intimacy ........................................ 123
7.1. Conceptual issues ................................................ 123
7.2. Practical issues ................................................. 124
8. Implications for practice and research .......................................... 124
9. Conclusion ....................................................... 125
Acknowledgments ...................................................... 125
References ......................................................... 125
Human Resource Management Review 22 (2012) 116–127
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 516 375 2147.
E-mail addresses: lrosh@yu.edu (L. Rosh), lro@gwu.edu (L.R. Offermann), rhonda.vandiest@sekon.com (R. Van Diest).
1
Tel.: +1 202 994 8507.
2
Tel.: +1 703 463 31297.
1053-4822/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2011.11.004
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Human Resource Management Review
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/humres