Summary: A new study finds that caffeine influences how people evaluate and participate in group work. Participants who drank caffeinated coffee judged their group’s performance and their own contribution more positively, and they stayed more on-topic during discussions than those who drank decaf.
Source: Ohio State University
Good teamwork may start with a cup of coffee for everyone, new research suggests.
Researchers report that drinking caffeinated coffee before a collaborative task led people to give higher ratings of both their own and their teammates’ performance. A follow-up study found that caffeine also increased how much people spoke in group discussions while helping them stay focused on relevant topics.
The team from Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, including Amit Singh and colleagues Vasu Unnava and H. Rao Unnava, examined caffeine’s impact on teamwork and group evaluations. Their findings, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, indicate that increased alertness is the mechanism behind the improved group dynamics and more positive assessments.
“We found that increased alertness was what led to the positive results for team performance,” said Amit Singh, co-author and doctoral student in marketing. “Not surprisingly, people who drank caffeinated coffee tended to be more alert, and that alertness appears to change how they perceive and participate in group tasks.”
The research consisted of two controlled studies with undergraduate participants who regularly drank coffee. In the first experiment, 72 students were asked to refrain from coffee before arriving. Half the participants took part in a coffee-tasting activity and consumed caffeinated coffee before joining group discussions; they then completed 30 minutes of filler tasks to allow the caffeine time to take effect. The other half performed the coffee-tasting at the end of the session.
Groups of five discussed a controversial social topic for 15 minutes and then rated their own and each other’s contributions. Those who drank caffeinated coffee before the discussion gave more positive evaluations of their group’s performance and of their own participation than participants who drank coffee after the discussion.
The second study used a similar format with 61 students, but this time everyone drank coffee at the start: some received caffeinated coffee, others received decaf. Again, participants who consumed caffeinated coffee reported higher alertness levels and also rated themselves and fellow group members more favorably than the decaf group.
Across both studies, subjective alertness emerged as the key predictor: participants who felt more alert, regardless of the beverage, tended to give higher marks to themselves and to others. This pattern suggests that any safe method of boosting alertness—exercise, brief breaks, or other interventions—might produce similar improvements in team perceptions and engagement, a possibility the authors propose for future research.
Beyond self-reports, the researchers analyzed recordings of the group discussions in the second study. They measured how much each person spoke and how closely their contributions stayed on topic. The analysis found that caffeinated participants talked more but also stayed more relevant to the discussion, indicating that caffeine increased active, focused participation rather than unfocused chatter.
Contrary to what one might expect with a more animated debate on a controversial subject, caffeine did not make conversations more hostile or less collaborative. In fact, those who drank caffeinated coffee were more likely than decaf drinkers to say they would be willing to work with the same teammates again. “Even though they are talking more—agreeing and disagreeing—they still want to work with them again,” Singh said. “Coffee didn’t seem to make group discussions too uncomfortable and disagreeable.”
Source: Amit Singh, Ohio State University
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com
Image source: Public domain image used by NeuroscienceNews.com
Original research: “Coffee with co-workers: role of caffeine on evaluations of the self and others in group settings” by Vasu Unnava, Amit Surendra Singh, and H. Rao Unnava. Journal of Psychopharmacology. Published April 5, 2018.
DOI: 10.1177/0269881118760665
Ohio State University. Coffee Helps Teams Work Together. NeuroscienceNews. June 5, 2018.
Abstract
Coffee with co-workers: role of caffeine on evaluations of the self and others in group settings
This research investigates how consuming a moderate amount of commercially available caffeinated coffee affects an individual’s participation and subjective evaluation during a group activity. Across two studies, moderate caffeine intake prior to group interaction increased task-relevant participation and led to more positive evaluations of both one’s own and other group members’ contributions. These positive effects were linked to a heightened sense of alertness, suggesting that interventions that safely boost alertness may similarly enhance perceptions and engagement in team settings.