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Hierarchical cultural values predict success and mortality in high-stakes teams
Edited by Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved December 12, 2014 (received for review May 12, 2014)

Significance
Functional accounts of hierarchy propose that hierarchy increases group coordination whereas dysfunctional accounts claim that hierarchy impairs performance by preventing low-ranking team members from voicing their perspectives. This research presents evidence for both accounts within the same dataset. Analysis of archival data from 30,625 Himalayan mountain climbers from 56 countries on 5,104 expeditions demonstrate that expeditions from countries with hierarchical cultural values had more climbers reach the summit, but also more climbers die along the way. Importantly, we established the role of group processes (i.e., coordination, psychological safety, information sharing) by showing that these effects occurred only for group, but not solo, expeditions. These results establish that endorsing cultural values related to hierarchy can simultaneously improve and undermine group performance.
Abstract
Functional accounts of hierarchy propose that hierarchy increases group coordination and reduces conflict. In contrast, dysfunctional accounts claim that hierarchy impairs performance by preventing low-ranking team members from voicing their potentially valuable perspectives and insights. The current research presents evidence for both the functional and dysfunctional accounts of hierarchy within the same dataset. Specifically, we offer empirical evidence that hierarchical cultural values affect the outcomes of teams in high-stakes environments through group processes. Experimental data from a sample of expert mountain climbers from 27 countries confirmed that climbers expect that a hierarchical culture leads to improved team coordination among climbing teams, but impaired psychological safety and information sharing compared with an egalitarian culture. An archival analysis of 30,625 Himalayan mountain climbers from 56 countries on 5,104 expeditions found that hierarchy both elevated and killed in the Himalayas: Expeditions from more hierarchical countries had more climbers reach the summit, but also more climbers die along the way. Importantly, we established the role of group processes by showing that these effects occurred only for group, but not solo, expeditions. These findings were robust to controlling for environmental factors, risk preferences, expedition-level characteristics, country-level characteristics, and other cultural values. Overall, this research demonstrates that endorsing cultural values related to hierarchy can simultaneously improve and undermine group performance.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: adamgalinsky{at}columbia.edu.
Author contributions: E.M.A., R.I.S., and A.D.G. designed research; E.M.A., R.I.S., and A.D.G. performed research; E.M.A. and R.I.S. analyzed data; and E.M.A., R.I.S., and A.D.G. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
All data used in this paper are available upon request from the authors.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1408800112/-/DCSupplemental.
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