soft.factionary
Look up, learn and understand the psychological terminology of soft.fact:
Soft Facts
There is no precise definition of Soft Facts in the scientific literature (yet). We refer to everything that makes up a person - hard facts (professional competencies), soft skills (methodological competence, social competence, personal characteristics, etc.) - as well as the result that emerges from group dynamic processes as soft facts. This outcome includes personal experience, trust, responsibility, communication, mindfulness, resilience, motivation, emotional intelligence, self-efficiency, proactivity and learning. By looking at these dynamic processes that occur in the social context between people, it is possible to make Soft Facts measurable - just like hard facts.
Greiser, C., Martini, J., Stephan, L., Tamdjidi, C. (2020) Tap Your Company's Collective Intelligence With Mindfulness. Boston Consulting Group x Awaris
https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/harte-und-weiche-faktoren
https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/soft-skills
https://dorsch.hogrefe.com
Personality
Personality is understood as the totality of all temporally stable characteristics that can be used to describe a person's experience and behavior (Asendorpf, 2020).
Asendorpf, J. (2020, September 03). Persönlichkeit. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/persoenlichkeit
Big 5
The Big 5 are a taxonomy of five basic personality dimensions: Neuroticism or Reversed Emotional Stability (tendency to be anxious and nervous), Extraversion (tendency to be sociable, dominant, and cheerful), Openness (tendency to be preoccupied with deep and fine subjects), Agreeableness (tendency to be friendly and harmonious), Conscientiousness (tendency to plan for the long term, self-discipline, and diligence). The Big 5 are broad personality dimensions that can be used to describe personality differences across cultures. Historically, similar five factors have been found repeatedly in different data sets (overview: John et al., 2008), so they can all be interpreted as Big 5 and a five-factor structure can be considered very robust. The Big 5 is the best known and most widely used trait taxonomy in personality research. The Big 5 allow psychology to have a common language for naming and communicating about basic personality dimensions. Therefore, they have an integrating and guiding effect on the field, which now has numerous studies on the predictive power, transcultural equivalence, stability over time, and development across the life span of the Big 5.
Rauthmann, J. (2016). Fünf Faktoren Modell. Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie
Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next Big Five Inventory (BFI-2): Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of personality and social psychology, 113(1), 117.
Openness
Openness is one of the personality traits of the Big 5 personality model. It is defined by an outspoken nature and unreserved honesty.Characteristic of a high trait in Openness are a wide range of interests, curiosity about dealing with complex issues, and creativity in developing new ideas. Low levels of openness are characterised by a pragmatic focus, a consistency of ideas and a preference for routine with little interest in abstract or imaginative thought.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is one of the personality traits of the Big 5 personality model. It is defined by following socially prescribed norms for impulse control and by behaving in a purposeful, planned, and well-structured manner. Characteristic of a high expression in Conscientiousness are an efficient, consistent way of working, a preference for neatness and order, and reliable consistency. Characteristic of low Conscientiousness are a comfortable leisureliness with a tendency to procrastinate, a high tolerance for chaos, and a tendency to be erratic, which may be accompanied by recklessness or irresponsibility.
Extraversion
Extraversion is one of the personality traits of the Big 5 personality model. It is defined as a mental attitude characterized by concentration of interests on external objects. Introversion is understood as the opposite of extraversion. People with an introverted nature tend to concentrate their interest away from the outside world and toward inner-soul processes. Characteristic of a high level of extraversion is an energetic, enthusiastic drive, a high degree of assertiveness with a tendency to take the lead, and a high level of sociability and talkativeness. Characteristic of a low expression in extraversion is a less enterprising, with enthusiasm restrained nature, the tendency to adaptability in groups and a quiet reclusiveness.
Agreeableness
Agreeableness is one of the personality traits of the Big 5 personality model. It is defined by a sense of community, a willingness to cooperate and identify with others. Characteristic of a high expression in Agreeableness are a respectful, courteous politeness, a tendency to be empathetic, warm-hearted, helpful, and selfless in compassion, and a tendency to be indulgent and trusting of others. Characteristic of low levels of agreeableness are directness, which can come across as brusque and rude, a tendency to detachment and indifference, and emotional detachment, which can lead to mistrust and frequent criticism.
Emotional stability
Emotional stability is one of the personality traits of the Big 5 personality model. Emotional stability and emotional lability are two human patterns of dealing with emotions. For a person with a stable emotional system, only a high level of activation will cause them to react emotionally. For a person with an unstable emotional system, even a low level of activation causes them to react emotionally, their emotions "boil over" quickly. People who tend to react emotionally quickly also take longer to recover from the emotional outburst. In contrast, people who only experience an emotional outburst in response to very strong stimuli recover much more quickly. Characteristic of a high expression in Emotional Stability are a secure, calm composure, a self-assured, contented confidence, and a balanced relaxedness that is accompanied by a controlled communication of feelings. Characteristic of a low level of Emotional Stability are anxiety, which is characterized by tension and worry, a tendency to joyless dejection, and volatility of feelings, which is accompanied by irritability and moody, fluctuating moods.
Role
Derived from the French word "rôle," which refers to the role of an actor in theater, Driskell, Driskell, Burke & Salas (2017) define the role a team member takes on as an internalized, enduring repertoire of behaviors. Roles are important in teams because they represent patterns of behavior associated with the activities of other team members in pursuit of the team goal. Because performing a role is associated with a particular pattern of behavior-and behavior in a social context always affects those around us-the role one team member performs has an impact on other team members.
For example, a person joins a new team. She is used to making decisions as it suits her personality, and moreover, she also made the decisions in her old team. Now that role is already filled on the new team. The new team member can now either choose a different role that fits the personality or compete with the other team member for that role - a conflict can arise.
A team constellation in which multiple team members try to take on the same role can reduce the effectiveness of the team by leading to inefficiency and conflict. On the other hand, a team is more likely to be successful if every role is filled. In either case, role allocation has an impact on the team's behavior and thus on the achievement of the team's goal (Driskell et al., 2017). This shows the importance of first being clear about the roles in a team and second assigning them according to each individual's personality. soft.fact does this by using a model that assigns core role tendencies and links personality and roles.
Driskell, T., Driskell, J., Burke, C., Salas, E. (2017). Team Roles: A Review and Integration. Sage Publications
Team roles of soft.fact
Driskell et al. postulate that the models of a variety of researchers simply use different labels for similar role dimensions. For this reason, they developed the TRIAD (Tracking Roles In and Across Domains) model, which describes three primary behavioral dimensions underlying team role behavior: Dominance, Sociability, and Task Orientation.
Based on this model, Driskell et al. conducted a cluster analysis of 154 team roles described in previous research. On this basis, they identified 13 primary team role clusters: Team Leader, Task Completer, Problem Solver, Evaluator, Teamwork Supporter, Follower, Coordinator, Social, Task Motivator, Critic, Attention Seeker, Power Seeker, Passive. These role dimensions are referred to as core roles. 10 of the 13 core roles are considered social roles (Team Leader, Task Completer, Problem Solver, Evaluator, Teamwork Supporter, Follower, Coordinator, Social, Task Motivator, Critic), 3 are considered antisocial roles (Attention Seeker, Power Seeker, Passive). The distinction is based on the positive or negative impact the role has on the functionality of the team.
Social Roles and Anti-Social Roles
We have chosen a role classification that captures both positive team roles and potentially negative team roles. "Positive" in this context means that these roles can have a positive impact on team dynamics. "Negative", on the other hand, means that these roles can have a negative influence on team dynamics, which in extreme form and manifestation can even prove toxic. To make the term short and easy to understand, we use the terms "social roles" and "anti-social roles" as some roles will more likely be beneficial in a social context and others won’t be. This does not necessarily mean that a person who is prone to anti-social behavior is harmful to the team. Each person has more than one role tendency and can always choose to act in a different role. As people first need to be aware of their possibilities before being able to make a conscious choice, soft.fact transparently shows all role tendencies of each team member - the social and the anti-social.
What roles are represented in an effective team?
Driskell et al. (2017) propose that effective teams require a balance of role distribution. The researchers further state that “an optimal team profile would involve team members enacting role activity that spreads over the high task orientation, high dominance and high sociability spaces” (Driskell et al., 2017). In other words: the diversity of distributed team roles is important, but not the inclusion of all possible team roles. Most role inventories show only social roles, leaving out the spectrum of anti-social roles that realistically exist nonetheless. The soft.fact approach makes each role tendency transparent. soft.fact shows all 13 role tendencies that a person has at the individual level and recommends that one of the 10 social roles in particular be adopted at the team level. Thus, the role distribution in the team is strongly dependent on the individual team members. Whenever the team settings change (e.g. when a new team member joins), soft.fact takes this into account and adjusts the recommended role distribution accordingly.
Driskell, T., Driskell, J., Burke, C., Salas, E. (2017). Team Roles: A Review and Integration. Sage Publications
Values
A value describes what a person considers desirable and worthwhile for himself and others (Kluckhohn, 1951). Values guide people's behavior and form the basis of decisions (Frey, 2016).
Kluckhohn, C. (1951). Values and value orientations in the theory of action. In T. Parsons, & F. A. Shields (Eds.), Toward a general theory of action (pp. 388-433). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Frey, D. (2016). Psychologie der Werte. Springer Verlag: Berlin Heidelberg
Motives
A motive is considered to be the latent evaluative disposition for goals and situation characteristics that lead to the expectation of goal achievement or goal failure. Motives refer to content classes of goals. Motives can be understood as organism-side determinants of motivation and thus as internal causes of behavior (Puca, 2019).
Puca, R. (2021, January 12). Motiv. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/motiv
Ways of Working
According to the Duden dictionary, working methods are the way of working, the method of working. Components of a person's working methods are, for example, the desired way of interacting, the preferred focus working hours and the skills of a person.
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Arbeitsweise
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a translation of the Pali term sati, which refers to the mind's ability to stay with something and be present with attention (Walach, 2020).
Walach, H. (2020, October 29). Achtsamkeit. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/achtsamkeit
Trust
According to the Duden dictionary, trust is a firm conviction of the reliability of a person or thing. Trust is defined in many different ways, but the definitions have in common that trust is an advance performance of the person(s) trusting associated with a positive expectation of the future. Trust implies taking individual or collective risks, as trust can be linked to negative consequences (Clases, 2020).
Clases, C. (2020, October 29). Vertrauen. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/vertrauen
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Vertrauen
Communication
Communication refers to a process in which an individual or group conveys information about ideas, feelings, and intentions to another individual or group. Communication goes beyond the mere transmission of a message; in addition to the exchange of information, motivational, emotional and social aspects are significant (Bierhoff, 2021).
Bierhoff, H. (2021, October 29). soziale Verantwortung. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/soziale-verantwortung
Motivation
The term "motivation" means movere in Latin, to move. Motivation describes processes that involve setting and evaluating goals (Achtziger, 2020).
Achtziger, A., Gollwitzer, P., Bergius , R., & Schmalt, H., & (2020, October 29). Motivation. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/motivation<br>
Self-efficacy
Efficacy beliefs or self-efficacy beliefs serve to assess one's own possibility of being able to realize measures to cause consequences. Accordingly, self-efficacy expectancy is the generalized conviction or specific expectation of achieving desired results with one's own behavior (Heinecke-Müller, 2020).
Heinecke-Müller, M. (2020, October 29). Wirksamkeitsüberzeugungen, Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/wirksamkeitsueberzeugungen-selbstwirksamkeitsueberzeugungen
Learning
Learning potential describes a competence that is not only about the ability to learn, i.e., the ability to learn, but also about the will to learn, i.e., the motivation to learn (Sarges, 2020).
Sarges, W. (2020, October 29). Lernpotenzial. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/lernpotenzial
Proactivity
Proactivity can be understood as a trait that includes identifying and acting on opportunities. Also characteristic of proactive behavior is showing initiative and taking action and maintaining action until meaningful change occurs (Crant, 1995).
Crant, M. (1995). The Proactive Personality Scale and Objective Job Performance Among Real Estate Agents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(4), 532-537.
Responsibility
The Dorsch Dictionary of Psychology does not define the term responsibility without the word "social". In the team context, we are primarily concerned with responsibility in relation to other people, which is why the definition of social responsibility is considered an important part of the construct. Social responsibility has both the aspect of supporting the welfare of others and pursuing one's own goals without harming others in the process (Bierhoff, 2020).
Bierhoff, H. (2020, October 29). soziale Verantwortung. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/soziale-verantwortung
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is understood as the multidimensional ability to recognise feelings, to deal with and use feelings and to express feelings appropriately (Rindermann, 2020).
Rindermann, H. (2020, October 29). Intelligenz, emotionale. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/intelligenz-emotionale
Resilience
Resilience describes the resilience of an individual to develop successfully despite adverse and critical life events (Warner, 2020).
Warner, L. (2020, October 29). Resilienz. In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/resilienz
Performance
The Dorsch Lexicon of Psychology defines performance as the value created by the expenditure of energy. Psychologically, performance is the use of a person's available abilities as well as their result. The term "collective intelligence" is also closely intertwined with team performance and is described in a study by the Boston Consulting Group and Awaris as "a groups ability to perform the wide variety of tasks required to reach a goal" (Greiser et al., 2020).
Performance (2020, October 29). In Dorsch Lexikon der Psychologie. Retrieved from: https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/leistung
Greiser, C., Martini, J., Stephan, L., Tamdjidi, C. (2020) Tap Your Company's Collective Intelligence With Mindfulness. Boston Consulting Group x Awaris
Job satisfaction
The Dorsch Dictionary of Psychology defines job satisfaction as a positive emotional state resulting from one's evaluation of one's job or experiences in one's job (Locke, 1976).
Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette, Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297-1349). Chicago: Rand McNally.
