Strategy, team cohesion and team member satisfaction: The effects of gender and group composition

• Seven teams with different gender compositions played an online game.
• We examined team cohesion, team member satisfaction and team strategy.
• Team cohesion was higher for all-female teams than all-male.
• Team member satisfaction was higher for all-female teams.
• All-male teams pursued more varied and riskier strategies.

Gender differences in team cohesion, team member satisfaction and play style were examined in small, single-gender groups playing an online game simulating small scale farming in Africa. Six women and nine men formed seven self-selected teams, with three teams being all-female and four all-male teams. The teams played the game for three hours, after which they completed a survey on team cohesion and team member satisfaction before taking part in a debriefing session, which covered strategies used by the respective teams. The all-female teams exhibited a significantly higher rate of team cohesion and team member satisfaction, while the all-male teams were shown to pursue riskier and wider-ranging strategies.