REDUNDANT-SYSTEMS INFLUENCES ON PERFORMANCE

Traditional views on redundant (i.e., backup) systems have adopted an engineering perspective, which suggests that there is a direct, linear relation between the number of these systems and safety. In contrast, this study adopted a social psychological perspective, which suggests that the motivation and performance of an individual in a redundant s ystem is affected by that individual's perception of the reliability a nd accuracy of the other elements in the system. This study examined t he influence of one's position in a redundant system on subsequent per formance during a routine error-checking task. Results indicated that redundant systems can work to enhance or obscure accountability, depen ding on the status of the redundant system. Further, accountability ca n increase performance in terms of both the quality of work (accuracy) and the quantity of work (time on task). Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.