Why does team status difference have dual impacts on employees’ job behaviors? The role of challenge-hindrance pathways and individual personality traits

Team status difference (TSD) refers to the difference in the relative ranking of team members based on their levels of respect, prestige, or influence as perceived by others. Much research on TSD has focused on the functional and dysfunctional effects of TSD at the team level, but few studies have explored the paradoxical impacts of status differences on employees. This study draws on the challenge-hindrance demand model (CHM) and transactional theory of stress to explore when and how TSD is associated with employees’ productive and counterproductive behaviors through distinct job-demand appraisal mechanisms. Further, the moderating role of individual personality traits is considered. Data were collected from 1631 Chinese employees within 108 teams using a three-stage team leader-member matching survey method. Mplus 7.0 was employed for multilevel structural equation model analysis. The results revealed that TSD is positively correlated with employees’ perceived job challenge and subsequent innovative behavior, particularly for those exhibiting a cooperative personality. Conversely, for employees with a competitive personality, TSD leads to increased perceived interpersonal conflict and subsequently, higher deviant behavior, but decreased innovative behavior. This study contributes to the literature by extending our knowledge of the impact of TSD on individual employee outcomes and demonstrating how the same status differences can yield both positive and negative outcomes depending on the personality traits of the employees involved. These findings serve as a useful reference for the design of team status structures in modern firms.