The big five model of teamwork and human autonomy teams: a scoping review

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Authors: Paul M. Salmon, Brandon King, Darcie Hall, Scott McLean, Jason Thompson, Nancy Cooke, Eduardo Salas, Shayne Loft, Gemma J. M. Read
Cited by: 2
References: 60

Abstract

Teams play a critical role in society and represent a key area for Human Factors and Ergonomics. Salas et al.'s Big Five model is widely cited; however, the increasing use of Human-Autonomy Teams (HATs) has fuelled debate over its continued relevance. It is important to reflect on how the Big five model has been applied, in what contexts, and whether applications to contemporary teams are emerging. This article presents the findings from a scoping review undertaken to identify and synthesise the peer reviewed literature describing applications of the Big Five model. Articles were deemed eligible for inclusion if they were published in the peer reviewed literature and described an application of the Big Five model to study teamwork. 38 articles were included in the review and no applications of the Big Five model to study HATs were identified. Over half of the studies were undertaken in healthcare and a range of assessment methods have been used (e.g., questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observer-rating scales, communication transcript analysis). Just under a third of included studies evaluated all model components (i.e., the five processes and three coordinating mechanisms) and few considered the relationships between model components or between model components and team effectiveness. Research is required to explore the validity of the Big Five model for HATs, to gather evidence for the relationship between model components and team effectiveness, and to develop more precise Big five-based measures.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Team Dynamics and Performance Innovation Sustainability Human-Machine Systems Conflict Management and Negotiation

Publication details

Journal / source
Applied Ergonomics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
135
Pages
104761–104761
Publication date
26 February 2026
Language
EN