Team Situation Awareness, Cohesion, and Autonomic Synchrony.

Objective: This study evaluated the causal relationships among situation awareness (SA), cohesion, and autonomic synchrony ( S _E ) within teams. SA is often a team effort and should be more accurate in better-functioning teams.
Background: Cohesive teams perform better overall, although the relationship appears reciprocal; the relationship to SA has not been considered previously. S _E is a collective neurocognitive activity that has been connected to team coordination, communication, and performance in some circumstances.
Method: In this experiment, 71 undergraduates, organized into 16 teams, played two matches of a first-person shooter computer game and completed self-report measures of cohesion and SA. S _E was determined through time series analysis of electrodermal responses using the driver-empath framework.
Results: Empaths and those who came from more synchronized teams reported less cohesion in the team. Granger causality regression showed reciprocal relations among SA, S _E , and cohesion that were both positive and negative after controlling for match difficulty.
Conclusion: The cohesion-SA relationship is similar to the reciprocal cohesion-performance relationship. S _E plays an important and independent role in both the social and cognitive aspects of team behavior. It is possible, furthermore, that individuals who are more attuned to their co-workers reported a more accurate, and less obliging, social situation.
Application: Results are applicable to situations requiring teamwork in a dynamic environment.