Social Synthesis: A psycho-social perspective of the construction project team

Abstract

This paper presents a framework resulting from systematic investigation within the field of social psychology, from which to derive new narratives, concepts, and relationships for collaborative design in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). A systematic literature review generated a series of themes that had potential for relevance to interdisciplinary built environment project teams. These were then explored, drawing on qualitative research conducted using focus groups drawn from three AEC organisations and observation of a live case-study industry project. The social psychology anchor themes of (1) motivation and reward; (2) risk attitudes; and (3) social climate were then recontextualised using the qualitative data, to derive construction-specific social and psychological factors that influence the collaborative design process.
The resultant psycho-social framework applies psychology theory to describe a multiplicity in the role agency of project team members, as actors in industry, discipline, company, and individual contexts. Role agency and domain-specific themes are combined within the collective to influence normative and adaptive responses within the team interaction space, where collective systems of meaning are synthesised and design outcomes produced.