Hierarchical cultural values predict success and mortality in high-stakes teams

TLDR

Functional accounts of hierarchy propose that hierarchy increases group coordination, whereas dysfunctional accounts claim it impairs performance by preventing low‑ranking team members from voicing their perspectives. This research presents evidence for both accounts within the same dataset. Analysis of archival data from 30,625 Himalayan mountain climbers on 5,104 expeditions shows that expeditions from countries with hierarchical cultural values had more climbers reach the summit but also more climbers die, and that these effects occurred only for group, not solo, expeditions, demonstrating that endorsing hierarchical cultural values can simultaneously improve and undermine group performance.

Abstract

Significance Functional accounts of hierarchy propose that hierarchy increases group coordination whereas dysfunctional accounts claim that hierarchy impairs performance by preventing low-ranking team members from voicing their perspectives. This research presents evidence for both accounts within the same dataset. Analysis of archival data from 30,625 Himalayan mountain climbers from 56 countries on 5,104 expeditions demonstrate that expeditions from countries with hierarchical cultural values had more climbers reach the summit, but also more climbers die along the way. Importantly, we established the role of group processes (i.e., coordination, psychological safety, information sharing) by showing that these effects occurred only for group, but not solo, expeditions. These results establish that endorsing cultural values related to hierarchy can simultaneously improve and undermine group performance.