BELBIN

Method,Reliability&Validity,Statistics&Research:

AComprehensiveReviewofBelbinTeamRoles

Belbin Associates 2009

Contents

IntroductionMeasuringBehaviour

ConstructionoftheBTRSPI

IstheBTRSPIanipsativetest?

AdministrationandScoringoftheBTRSPI

Whyuseeinterplace?

TheSpecialistRole

ObserverAssessments

Norming

TeamRoleAdvice

DescriptionoftheNineTeamRoles

Reliability

Testretestreliability

Internalconsistency

Validity

Facevalidity

Constructvalidity

Convergentvalidity

Discriminantvalidity

Concordantvalidity

TheBTRSPIandothermeasures

Criterionvalidity

Belbininpractice

ObserverAssessments

Jobprofiling

Belbininindustry

Testing,BiasandFairness

BelbinandGender

BelbinandEthnicOrigin

BelbinandAge

BelbinandManagement

FurtherReading

BooksfromBelbin

OthertitlesfromBelbin

ResearchStudies

RecommendedArticles

OtherArticles

Belbin Associates 2009

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IntroductionMeasuringBehaviour

The Belbin Team Role SelfPerception Inventory (BTRSPI) was designed to measure behavioural characteristics
whichindividualsdisplaywhenworkinginteams.BelbinTeamRoleTheorywasdevisedasaresultofthestudies
conducted by Meredith Belbin in the 1970s. For more details of this initial research, please visit the Belbin
website.

SincetheBTRSPImeasuresbehaviourratherthanpersonality,itisnotconsideredtobeapsychometrictest(those
which measure attributes of personality). Rather, personality is one of many factors which can influence
behaviour. Other factors include internalised values and motivations, and the external working environment or
FieldConstraints:

Whilst most personality traits are acknowledged to be fairly constant, behaviour can change more readily,
adapting to changes in any of those factors which influence it. As a result, Belbin expects that Team Role
preferencesmightchangeovertime.Whilstitisunlikelythatanindividualsprofilewillchangedramaticallyorbe
reversedaltogether,somealterationsareexpected,inlinewithachangeofjobroleorworkenvironment,orasa
resultofamajorlifechange.

The BTRSPI measures behaviour because Belbin believes that this provides the most useful and verifiable
informationregardinganindividualtoarecruiter,managerorconsultant,aswellastotheindividualconcerned.
Whilstitcouldbearguedthatonlytheindividualhimselfknowshisownpersonality,behaviourisobservableand
canbeinterpretedandusedtopredictfuturereactionsandconduct.

Thedifficultywhenmeasuringpersonalityaloneisthattheremaybealargediscrepancybetweenpersonalityand
behaviour.Whilstanindividualmaypurporttobeanextravert,thatpersonsbehaviourintheworkplacemaylean
towardsintroversion.Theindividualsselfperceptionofextraversionmayindicatelimitedselfawarenessormay
reflectapersonalitytraittheindividualwishestopossess.Itisarguablethatidentifyingcertainpersonalitytraits
doesnotdirectlyhelpthemanagerconcernedwithrecruitmentorpromotion.Inthecaseofmanypsychometric
tests,managersexpendmuchenergyunderstandingthepsychometricdimensionsortraits,ratherthanapplying
theknowledgetoimproveperformance.

Ratherthanprovidinginformationregardingindividualpersonalitytraits,theBTRSPIgaugesbehaviourinorderto
identify groupings or clusters (Team Roles) which characterise an individuals behavioural contribution to the
workplace. For example, you might find a question in a personality test along the lines of: When Ive made a
decision about something, I still keep wondering whether its right or wrong. Here, the focus is on how the
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individualthinksandfeels.Bycontrast,theBTRSPIasksquestionslike:IcanbereliedupontofinishanytaskI
undertake,focusingonpracticalcontributionsanindividualmightmake.

As well as selfreporting, whereby an individual identifies behaviours he believes he exhibits, the BTRSPI uses
Observer Assessments (OA) to substantiate or refute these claims with the perceptions of colleagues, managers
and other coworkers, to form a more rounded view of the individuals contribution. Aritzeta, Swailes & Senior
write:

The dynamic configuration ofteam roles measured bythe[B]TRSPIand therelative stability oftraits
measuredbypersonality questionnaires leads totheconclusionthattraits measured by thelatterare
differentfrom those measured by the[B]TRSPI. Thus, both instruments maybetapping different but
complementaryconstructs.~Aritzeta,Swailes&Senior,20071

Many individuals and organisations are concerned that the introduction of psychometric tests might lead to
pigeonholingorlabellingofindividuals.WithBelbinTeamRoles,therelationshipbetweenanindividualandthe
TeamRolestheyexhibitisafarmorecomplexone.AnindividualdoesnothaveoneTeamRole,butacombination
of preferred, manageable and least preferred roles. The distribution and interrelation of these roles across an
individualsprofilehaveagreatinfluenceonthewaytheroleswillbeplayedoutinpracticeandexperiencedby
others.Whilstanindividualmayclaimtopreferorenjoyaparticularrole,itdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthey
can or should play only this role. The theory of Team Roles is concerned with acknowledging strengths and
weaknesses,butalsowithcultivatingstrengthstobecomingamodel,strongexampleofagivenTeamRoletype.

BelbinsTeamRoleModel:Development,ValidityandApplicationsforTeamBuilding(Aritzeta,Swailes&Senior,
2007),p.110.
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ConstructionoftheBTRSPI

TheBTRSPIisabehaviouraltestdesignedforuseinorganisationalandworksettings.TheBTRSPIwasformulated
byMeredithBelbininthe1980sfollowingonfromhisresearchatHenleyManagementCollegeandinceptionof
TeamRoleTheory.

The BTRSPI measures nine dimensions or Team Roles and has one scale known as Dropped Points (DR), which
measures claims about oneself rather than valid Team Role contributions. The inventory consists of seven
sections, with each section containing a heading and ten statements, one item per Team Role and a tenth item
representingDR.

The headingsgivea workbasedscenario or situation withwhich the individualcanidentify. Thisis intended to

anchorthebehaviours describedina familiarworkcontextandtoencouragecandidatestoreflectanddrawon
examplesfromtheirownexperiences.

WhencompletingtheBTRSPI,candidatesareaskedtodistributetenmarksintotalpersectionoftheinventory.If
a candidate identifies equally with only two statements, 5 points should be allocated to each of the two
statements.Iffourofthestatementsarerelevant,buttwomoresothantheothertwo,theallocationofpoints
mightbe3,3,2and2,asshownbelow:

Thisisthenrepeatedforeachsectionoftheinventory.Candidatesmayonlyallocatemarksinwholenumbersand
areaskedtoavoideitherextreme(allocatingall10markstoonestatementor1marktoeach)wherepossible.

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ConstructionoftheBTRSPI

IstheBTRSPIanipsativetest?

TheBTRSPIisdesignedtoascertainasmuchinformationaspossibleaboutanindividualsTeamRolepreferences,
whilst keeping the inventory manageable in terms of item length, inventory length and answering style. Many
psychometrictestssuchasthe16PFandOPQrequiretherespondenttoevaluatearound200itemsusingaLikert
scale(e.g.tickinganansweralongaspectrumfromStronglyagreetoStronglydisagree,usuallywithaneutral
optionofDontknoworNotsure).Incontrast,theBTRSPIaskstherespondenttoconsideritemswithineach
section in relation to each other and to prioritise some above others. As a result, the questionnaire takes only
between15and20minutestocomplete,lesstimethanmanypsychometricevaluations.

SincethetotalscoreachievedintheBTRSPIisalwaysconstant,itisanipsativemeasureoverall.Thismeansthata
respondent must express a relative preference between two or more statements measuring different
characteristics,thuscreatingadegreeofinterdependencebetweenthecharacteristicsbeingmeasured.

However,sincetheitemsaredispersedinthe7sectionssuchthatthereisoneitemforeachroleineachsection,
the scores given to items for any Team Role are not fully ipsative, since they do not sum to a constant value.
Whilst the scores for items in the same scale are independent of each other, they are partly dependent on the
scoresgiventootherscales.Inotherwords,theBTRSPIisipsativewithinitssections(sincescoresalwayssumto
10)butnotbetweenitssections.

SomeearlyresearchstudiescriticisedthescoringstyleoftheBTRSPI,suggestingthatitforcedchoicebetween
statements. In 1993, Meredith Belbin defended the inventory, claiming that some restriction of choice [was]
operationallydesirablesinceselfratingonindependentscalesyieldslittleofvalueinindustrialandoccupational
settings(seediscussionabove).

In their 1998 research, Sommerville & Dalziel converted the BTRSPI to a Likerttype scale questionnaire. They
foundthat73%ofparticipantshadthesameTeamRoleacrossbothversionsofthetest,indicatingthatthereisno
significantdifferenceinthepredictionofTeamRolesbetweenthetwoversions.2

In1993,MeredithBelbinmaintainedthatLikerttypescalescausedmorefrustrationamongcandidatesinindustry
and later, in research conducted in 2004, Aritzeta, Swailes & McIntyreBhatty point out that Likerttype scales
bringtheirownsetofproblems:

There is a strong controversy in the literature about the ipsative scoring of constructs, and such
discussionwhileveryinterestingisstillfarfromclear.Ipsativedataisnotfreefromcriticismasneither
arenormativedata[sic].Likerttypescalesarenotfreefromimportantthreatsascentraltendencybias,
acquiescence, social desirability and falsification of responses which may be much larger from these
typesofscalesthanforipsativescales.~Aritzeta,Swailes&McIntyreBhatty,20043

Project teambuilding the applicability of Belbins team role selfperception inventory (Sommerville & Dalziel,
1998),pp.166167.
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FurtherEvidenceonthevalidityoftheBelbinTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventoryandtheObserversAssessment
Sheet(Aritzeta,Swailes&McIntyreBhatty,2004),p.8.
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Arguably, a Likerttype scale also forces choice by asking candidates to choose the neutral response if no other
applies.Forexample, ifabipartitestatementispresented,withthecandidateagreeingto onepartoftheitem
and disagreeing with the other, a neutral response could reflect the poor wording of the item rather than the
candidatestrueresponse.Additionally,theLikerttypescaleassumesthatthefigurativedistanceinpreference
betweenStronglyagreeandAgreeisthesameasthatbetweenAgreeandtheneutralresponseorbetween
Disagree and Strongly disagree. This is an assumption which aids calculation and analysis, but again, is not
reflectiveoftrueresponse.

Having undertaken comprehensive statistical and factor analysis on data from more than 5000 candidates who
have completed the BTRSPI, Swailes & Aritzeta conclude that the scoring system of the BTRSPI has no adverse
effectonitsconstructvalidityandthatlevelsofinterdependencyarelow(pleaseseetheValiditysectionbelow
for further discussion).4 Since the BTRSPIs current format confers no statistical disadvantage and confers
considerableadvantagesfromtheviewpointofthecandidate,Belbinhaschosentoretaintheformat.

ScalePropertiesoftheTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventory(Swailes&Aritzeta,2006),p.10.
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AdministratingandScoringoftheBTRSPI

TheBTRSPIisavailablefromBelbinAssociatesathttp://www.belbin.com.Therearealsoanumberofconsultants
and distributors who are licensed to resell Belbin internationally in English and other languages. Whilst the
inventoryisreadilyavailableonline,aneinterplacesystemisrequiredtoscoretheinventory,processthedataand
produceBelbinreports.

In his book, Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, first published in 1981, Meredith Belbin included a
selfscoringBTRSPIdesignedtoprovidetheindividualreaderwithaquickfixindicatorofwhattheirBelbinTeam
Roles might be. As further research was conducted, this inventory was shown to be inadequate in determining
Team Roles and the einterplace system was developed to handle the norming, data analysis and complex
algorithms which arise from different combinations of response to the BTRSPI. Rather than providing simply a
rankedorderofroles,theeinterplace softwareproducesafullfeedbackreport,integratinginformationgleaned
fromboththeSelfPerceptionInventoryandObserverAssessments.

Belbin Associates owns the copyright for the SelfPerception Inventory included in Management Teams and
does not allow this questionnaire to be reproduced in any form. Individuals may purchase the book and
completetheselfscoringversionoftheBTRSPIfortheirownpersonaldevelopment,butanycopyingorwider
usage is an infringement of copyright and will be prosecuted. For more information, please visit
http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=7.

Whyuseeinterplace?

The selfscoring questionnaire is now obsolete and is not a reliable way of determining Team Roles. Many
researchstudieshavesuggestedthateinterplaceprovidesamuchmorereliableandvalidmethodofestablishing
TeamRoles.5Moreover,theoldselfscoringmethoddoesnotincludetheninthroleofSpecialist,lacksthebalance
of observer input, is not properly normed and most importantly, does not offer any Team Role advice. These
pointsareoutlinedinmoredetailbelow.

TheSpecialistrole

MeredithBelbinsoriginalresearchinthe1970sidentifiedeightTeamRoles.Aftertheinitialresearchhadbeen
completed,aninthTeamRole,Specialistemerged.ThisrolewasdiscoveredonlyaftertheHenleyexperiments
hadbeenconcluded.Sincethebusinessgamehadbeenconstructedtosetallparticipantsonalevelplayingfield
intermsofknowledgeandexpertise,Specialistbehaviourscouldnotemerge.Whilstthispremisewasusefulfor
thepurposesoftheexperiment,itisnotrepresentativeofreallife.Allinformationregardingthecontributionand
shortcomingsoftheSpecialisthasbeengleanedfromlaterexperiencesinthepracticalapplicationofthetheoryin
industry.

PleaseseetheFurtherReadingsectionformoredetailsonresearchconductedusingtheeinterplacesystem.
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ObserverAssessments

Belbin strongly recommends the use of Observer Assessments or OA (our own integrated form of 360degree
feedback) to qualify the individuals selfperception. Whilst many psychometric tests rely entirely on self
reporting,Belbinpointstothelimitationsofthisapproach.Anindividualmayhavelittleselfawareness,especially
ifheorshehasnotbeenworkingforverylong.MeredithBelbinarguesthattheneedforsuchcorroborationarose
fromademandforamorerobustwayofassessingthepotentialTeamRolecontributionofindividuals:

Line managers were usually wary of using selfreporting measures when reaching crucial decisions
aboutpeople.Thatreservationisseldomconnectedwithtechnicalissuesoftestconstructionbutmore
withtherecognitionthatpeoplearesubjecttoillusionsabouttheselfandarealsotemptedtodistort
their responses once they believe that their answers affect job and career prospects. Line managers
placeagreateremphasisonobservationsofothers,believingthatsuchmaterialhasgreatervalidity,in
termsofeffectivedecisionmaking,providingitisproperlygathered.

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~MeredithBelbin,1993

As well as validating an individuals selfperception with observations of realworld behaviour, Observer

Assessmentsprovidelearningandpersonaldevelopmentopportunities.Forexample,whereindividualsindicate
different Team Role preferences than are identified by their team, discussion may arise as to whether the
individualinquestionisabletoachievefullpotentialorisaskedtoplayotherrolesforthebenefitoftheteam.For
moreinformationontheuseofObserverAssessments,pleaseviewtheCriterionValiditysectionbelow.

A reply to the Belbin TeamRole SelfPerception Inventory by Furnham, Steele and Pendleton (Belbin, 1993),
JournalofOccupationalandOrganizationalPsychology(1993),66,p.259.
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Norming
Belbin recognises that different groups and cultures may produce different Team Role balances. Since Belbin is
soldandusedinternationally,theBelbineinterplacesoftwaresystemmakesprovisionforthis.Individualusersof
the software can create their own norms for a particular organisation or other defined group, or can choose to
refertoUKnorms,ifpreferred.InhisarticleonBelbinandculture,ChrisMorisonwrites:

Withoutnorming,itwouldbeimpossibletocomparescoresbetweenroles.Withoutthatcomparison,
theselectionofnatural,managedandavoidedroleswouldbeimpossible.Secondly,normingfiltersout
culturalimpacts.Thismakestheroleselectionrelativetothenormsused.
~ChrisMorison,20087

TeamRoleAdvice

Belbin einterplace uses the data gained from the BTRSPI to produce a full feedback report, interpreting the
individualsTeamRolepreferencesintextualandgraphicalforms.ThefourpageSelfPerceptionreportincludes:

SelfPerceptionTeamRoleProfile
CounsellingReport
CharacterProfile
PersonalWorkStyle

With the addition of Observer Assessments, an extended eightpage report analysing individual and observer
feedback can be provided. For more information and to view sample Belbin Team Role reports, please visit
http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=10.

AnInvestigationofBelbinTeamRolesasaMeasureofBusinessCulture(ChrisMorison,2008),p.32.
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DescriptionoftheNineTeamRoles

The nine Belbin Team Roles are shown below, along with the strengths and allowable weaknesses for the
particularrole.AccordingtoBelbinTeamRoletheory,aseachTeamRolemakesanindividualcontributiontothe
team,soeachTeamRolehasanallowableweaknesswhichistheflipsideofthestrength.

FormoreinformationonBelbinTeamRoletheory,pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8.

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DescriptionoftheNineTeamRoles

Team Roles are clusters of behaviour, rather than individual traits or characteristics. As mentioned above, it is
envisagedthatacandidatewillhavemorethanonepreferredTeamRole.IntheSelfPerceptionTeamRoleProfile,
anindividualsTeamRolesareanalysedinthreecategories:

PreferredRolesthoseroleswhichtheindividualiscomfortableplayingandwhichcomenaturally.
Manageable Roles those roles which an individual can play if required for the benefit of the team.
Thesemaybecultivatedtobroadentheindividualsteamworkingexperience.
LeastPreferredRolesthoseroleswhichtheindividualdoesnotnaturallyorcomfortablyassume.Itis
generally recommended that the individual avoids contributing in these areas, lest the pitfalls of the
behaviouroutweighthestrengths.

ThenineTeamRolesmayalsobecategorisedasAction,SocialandThinkingroles:
ActionCompleterFinisher(CF);Implementer(IMP);Shaper(SH)
SocialCoordinator(CO);ResourceInvestigator(RI);Teamworker(TW)
ThinkingMonitorEvaluator(ME);Plant(PL);Specialist(SP)

As mentioned above, no individual Team Role or characteristic should be considered in isolation. Rather, the
specific combination and interaction of an individuals Team Roles along with observer input and style of
response to the BTRSPI help to shape and inform the Team Role profile, with the intricate interplay of Team
RoleshandledbytheBelbineinterplacesoftwaresystem.WhilstTeamRolesarenotlikelytochangedramatically,
individualswhoarenewtoajobortotheworldofworkmaydiscovermorefluctuationintheirpreferencesthan
thosewhohavebeenworkingformuchlonger.Someindividualsmayfindthatonlytwoorthreerolescomeinto
play,whilstothersmayfindthatthevarietyoftheirjoboraJackofalltradesdispositioncallsuponfouror
fivedifferentroles,whichcanbeplayedasthesituationdemands.

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Reliability

In psychometric testing, a reliable test is one which will produce consistent results when the same individual is
tested on different occasions (often referred to as testretest reliability). Often, psychologists and statisticians
analysetheinternalconsistencyofatesttoverifythatdifferentpartsofatestareallmeasuringthesamequality
or trait (in this case, they are measuring internal consistency). When evaluating a test, reliability is generally
measuredbeforevalidity,sincethereliabilityofatestplacesanupperlimitonitsvalidityinotherwords,atest
cannotmeasurewhatitpurportstomeasureunlessitisstableandconsistentinitsmeasurement.

Testretestreliability

AsdiscussedinMeasuringBehaviourabove,Belbinisnotapsychometrictest,sinceitmeasuresbehaviourrather
than personality. Whilst personality may remain fairly consistent, we would expect behaviour to change, along
withachangeinjobrole,forexample.Indeed,itisdesirablethatanindividualsshouldadapttosuitthedemands
of the job. Although it is unusual for a Team Role profile to become entirely reversed, it is highly likely that
preferredandmanageablerolesmaymovearoundwithinanindividualsprofileduringhisorhercareer.

Internalconsistency

Internalconsistencyisalsoknownasscalehomogeneity,inotherwords,theabilityofitemsinascaletomeasure
thesameconstructortrait.BelbinmeasuresnineTeamRoles,whichareclustersorconstellationsofbehavioural
characteristics,ratherthanindividualtraits.Asaresult,Belbindoesnotrepeatitemsbutratherlookstoidentify
strataofdifferentTeamRolebehavioursdisplayedbyanindividual.

SinceBelbindiffersfrompsychometrictestsinbothitsunderlyingtheoryanditsformatandscoringmechanism,
measuringitsreliabilityhaspresentedachallengetoresearchersovertheyears.Themostcommonmeasureof
internalconsistencyis CronbachsAlpha( ),which, whenappliedtotheBTRSPIduringearlyresearch,produced
highly variable results. In their research papers, The Reliability of the (Belbin) Team Role SelfPerception
Inventory:Cronbachsalphaandipsativescales8andUsesandAbusesofReliabilityEstimates:TheCaseofthe
BelbinTRSPI9,StephenSwailesandTimMcIntyreBhattyexploredlimitationstoCronbachsalphaingeneraland
explainedwhyexistingmeasuresofreliabilitywereinadequatetoevaluatetheBTRSPI.

Firstly,theresearcherspointoutagenericlimitationofCronbachsalpha(
thatsimplyincreasingthelengthof
theinventory(i.e.thenumberofitems)canincrease .Also,interitemcorrelations(thelinkbetweenitems)can
remain low, but can achieve a high value, so long as they are consistently low. As regards the BTRSPI in
particular, it is neither fully ipsative nor nonipsative, so whilst the total score achieved is always the same, the
scoreforeachTeamRolecanvary.Secondly,respondentsdonotallocateavaluetoeveryitemintheinventory.
In the past, researchers have assigned zero to all items without a response, rather than assigning a null value,
thereby contaminating the results. Researchers have also made use of the obsolete selfscoring version of the
inventoryandhaveusedsmallorinappropriatesamplesizeswhenanalysingdataanddrawingconclusions.

The Reliability of the (Belbin) Team Role SelfPerception Inventory: Cronbachs alpha and ipsative scales
(McIntyreBhatty&Swailes,2000).
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UsesandAbusesofReliabilityEstimates:TheCaseoftheBelbinTRSPI(Swailes&McIntyreBhatty,2001).
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Having recognised these limitations to Cronbachs Alpha and its applications to the BTRSPI, Swailes et al.
formulated and proposed a new measure of reliability, IR , which offers a weighted mean of average interitem
correlationscores.Usingalargedatasetofrespondents,theycalculated bycontaminatingnullresponseswith
zeros, as earlier researchers had done, for the sake of comparison. Next, they chose only those responses for
which every Team Role received a score across the 7 sections of the inventory, so as to avoid the problem of
assigning values of zero to null responses. was calculated again, without contamination of null and using
weightedinteritemcorrelation.TheresultsareshowninTable1below:

Table1
TeamRoles
TeamRole

CF

CO

IMP

ME

PL

RI

SH

SP

TW

Cronbach
(withzeros)

.46

.41

.23

.40

.54

.44

.66

.48

.53

.67

.79

.56

.60

.72

.78

.68

.65

.76

161

133

358

124

86

126

482

84

197

Cronbach

(7scoreditems)

n(numberofrespondents)
for with(7scoreditems)

ForCronbach withzeros,n=5003

A score of 0.6 or above is considered good or acceptable. Whilst traditional use of Cronbachs shows poor
results for the BTRSPI, a vast improvement is found for using Swailes et al.s new formula for calculating
reliability.Thisstudyhelpstoexplainwhyearlierresearch produced poorresultsforthe BTRSPIsreliability. In
summary,earlierstudiesmadeerroneoususeof inrelationtotheBTRSPI,usedmuchsmallerandinappropriate
samplesandcontaminateddatabyassigningzerostonullresponses.

Using weighted interitem correlation to calculate reliability via Cronbachs Alpha ( ), Belbin Team
RolesasmeasuredbytheBTRSPIshowgoodoracceptablereliabilityoverall.

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Validity

Atestissaidtobevalidifitmeasureswhatitclaimstomeasure.Therearedifferentkindsofvalidity:facevalidity,
constructvalidityandcriterionvalidity.TheseareexploredbelowinrelationtotheBTRSPI.

Facevalidity

Facevalidityconcernstheappearanceofthetest.Ifthetestappearstobemeasuringappropriatelyandcorrectly,
thenrespondentsaremoreinclinedtogivethetesttheirfullattentionandanswerithonestlyandopenly.Intheir
1996 study, Balderson & Broderick state that the BTRSPI has very high face validity and comment on the
acceptabilityofthemeasuresorTeamRolesparticularlyusingtheInterplacesystemexpertreports.10

Constructvalidity

Construct validity assesses whether the characteristic which a test is actually measuring is meaningful and
consistentwithwhatthetestisintendedtomeasureoverall.Convergentvalidityisconcernedwithwhetheratest
issimilartothosetowhichitshouldtheoreticallybesimilar.Discriminantvalidityistheextenttowhichagiven
scalecanbedistinguishedfromotherscaleswhicharemeasuringdifferentconceptsortraits.Concordantvalidity
hastodowiththelevelofagreement(orconcordance)betweenonetestandanother,inthisinstance,theBTRSPI
andObserverAssessment(OA).

MuchresearchhasbeenconductedintotheconstructvalidityoftheBTRSPI.Acomprehensiveoverviewofthese
studiesisprovidedinapaperbyAritzeta,Swailes&McIntyreBhatty.11

Convergentvalidity

Intheir2007paper,Aritzetaetal.commentthattheTeamRolemodelhasacceptableconvergentvalidity.They
explain that previous empirical studies which have found less favourable results have fallen victim to effects
causedbysmallorinappropriatesamplesizes.Theywrite:

[This] leads us to conclude that the team role model has acceptable convergent validity. Factor
structures for the TRSPI are coherent in its ipsative and normative forms as well as with personality
measures.

~Aritzeta,Swailes&McIntyreBhatty,200412

10

BehaviourinTeams:ExploringOccupationalandGenderDifferences(Balderson&Broderick,1996),p.33.
FurtherEvidenceontheValidityoftheBelbinTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventoryandtheObserversAssessment
Sheet(Aritzeta,Swailes&McIntyreBhatty,2004),pp.36.
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BelbinsTeamRoleModel:Development,ValidityandApplicationsforTeamBuilding(Aritzeta,Swailes&Senior,
2007),p.111.
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Discriminantvalidity

Fisher, Hunter & Macrossons 2001 paper provided overall support for discriminant validity in the BTRSPI. The
researcherswerehighlysuccessfulintheirpredictionofthefrequencyofoccurrenceofvariousTeamRolessolely
fromBelbinconstructsandstatedthatthisaddedweighttoclaimsofconstructvalidityfortheBTRSPI.13

Concordantvalidity

In their 2004 paper, Aritzeta, Swailes & McIntyreBhatty found that the Observer Assessment (OA) showed
concordant validity since, out of 3351 observations, 66.4% showed significant Team Role agreement between
observers. When analysing the BTRSPI alongside the OA, 75% of the correlations could be considered from
moderatetostrong.

Whilstthesefindingsareusefulandpositive,itisimportanttorecognisethat,owingtothenatureofBelbinTeam
Roletheory,itispossiblethatobserversmightidentifyverydifferentbehavioursinthesameindividual.Individual
profiles can be regarded as coherent, compatible, discordant or confused, depending on the level and type of
agreementbetweenselfperceptionandobserverassessments.Incaseswhereselfperceptiondiffersgreatlyfrom
observerinput,anumberoffactorscanberesponsibleforthisoutcome:

Limitedselfawarenessthisismorelikelytocauseadiscordantorconfusedprofileifsomeoneisnewin
aparticularjobrole,ornewtotheworkenvironmentingeneral.
Theindividualinquestionmaybeplayingadifferentrolethanheorshedesirestoplayorwouldbebest
at playing. Whilst the observer assessments may reflect the current Team Role contribution, the self
perceptionmightrevealanaspirationtoplayadifferentrole.
Anindividualmayundergoachangeinvalues,whichmightnotbeimmediatelyobvioustocolleagues,but
mayinfluencetheindividualsoutlookandbehaviour.
Theroleofobserversitisimportanttoestablishtheexactworkingrelationshipbetweenanindividual
and those observing them. An observer may not know the person well enough to comment on their
working style, especially if they have not worked together for long. Additionally, the observers own
TeamRolesmaycomeintoplaywhenansweringObserverAssessments.

Itislikelythatanydatasetwillcontaina mix ofthese differentkinds ofprofiles.Whensignificantagreementis

found between selfperception and observer assessments, this is used along with other statistical factors, to
determinewhetherornotanindividualcanbeconsideredastrongexampleofaparticularTeamRoletype.14

13

ThedistributionofBelbinteamrolesamongUKmanagers(Fisher,Hunter&Macrosson,1998),p.132.
IndepthinformationonanalysingandprovidingfeedbackonBelbinreportsisavailableviaourBelbin
Accreditationcourse,pleaseseehttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=25fordetails.

14

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TheBTRSPIandothermeasures

TheBTRSPIhasbeenanalysedalongsideothermeasures,suchasthe16PFandOPQ.Inhis2007study,Aritzeta,
Swailes&Seniorcommentedthat:

Takingtheempiricalstudiestogether,thereissufficientevidencethatdefinitionsofteamrolesarevalid
andthatindependentlyoftheinstrumentusedtomeasureteamroles,resultsareconsistentwithother
theoretical models. The team role model shows evidence for validity that cannot be disregarded [...].
Knowingthetypeofassociationthatateamroleshowswithindividualcognitivestyles,conflictmanaging
behaviourandtheotherareasexploredwillhelptobetterunderstandteamdynamicsandfacilitateteam
buildingbehaviours.
~Aritzeta,Swailes&Senior,200715

FormoreinformationonvaliditystudieswhichanalysetheBTRSPIalongsideothermeasures,pleaseconsultthe
FurtherReadingsectionbelow.

Criterionvalidity

Criterionvalidityisconcernedwiththeapplicabilityofatestitisprovedbydemonstratingthattheresultsofa
giventestrelateinameaningfulwaytoanexternalcriterionforexample,jobperformance.Thisisofteneasier
to judge when dealing with ability tests, but nevertheless, many organisations across the world can attest that
BelbinTeamRoletheoryhasbeenproventomaketeamsmoresuccessful.

In1995,DulewiczinvestigatedtheassociationbetweenTeamRoleandresponsibilityorstatus.16Inordertodoso,
hemeasuredsalary,totalremuneration,andthetotalnumberofstaffandtotalexpenditurebudgets,forwhom
theindividualhadresponsibility.HediscoveredthatTeamRolesseemedtobeindependentofmeasuresofsalary
andjobresponsibilities.

Belbin Team Role theory does not specify that one Team Role or another is required for a managerial role, or
indeed,aroleattractingahighersalary.Rather,Shi&Tangsstudy,publishedin1997,makestheusefulcomment
thatagivenenvironmentmaypromotetheriseofparticularTeamRoles.Forexample,athreateningorpolitical
climate may promote a sober and discerning individual to a managerial position, who is shrewd in judging their
environmentandothersaroundtheminotherwords,aMonitorEvaluator.Inanorganisationstuckinarutand
lackingideasandresources,aPlantorResourceInvestigatorislikelytostandout;whilstinastableandindustrious
environment,thecharacteristicsofanImplementerorCompleterFinishermightbemorehighlyvalued.17

TherearetwomeasureswhichcanbeintroducedtoensurethatanindividualsTeamRoleprofileisagoodmatch
withtheirbehaviourinarealworldscenario.Thesearei)ObserverAssessmentsandii)Jobprofiling.

15

BelbinTeamRoleModel:Development,ValidityandApplicationsforTeamBuilding(Aritzeta,Swailes&Senior,
2007),p.108.
16
AValidationofBelbinsTeamRolesfrom16PFandOPQusingBossesRatingsofCompetence(Dulewicz,1995)
17
Teamrolebehaviourandtaskenvironment:Anexploratorystudyoffiveorganizationsandtheirmanagers(Shi&
Tang,1997),p.93.
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i)ObserverAssessments

Observer Assessments can be added to a BTRSPI to ensure that an individuals report is not dependent on self
awarenessandunderstanding,butratherisgroundedintheperceptionsofthosewho workwiththepersonin
question.

Observersarerecommendedbecause:

Selfperceptionissubjective.
Anindividualmayhavelimitedselfinsight.
Anindividualmayanswerregardinghowtheywishtobehaveorbeperceived,ratherthanhowtheyreally
are.
Responsesfromselfperceptionareisolatedratherthandemocratic.
Since only one point of view is provided, there are limited or no opportunities for learning and self
development.

When Observer Assessments are added to a SelfPerception profile, a fuller report is produced, integrating the
360degreefeedback.Forexample,twopiechartspresentthedifferencesinTeamRolepreferencesbetweenan
individuals own perception and that provided by colleagues. Any discrepancies between selfperception and
observerinputcanleadtofruitfuldiscussionastohowtheindividualisperceivedintheteam,helpingtounearth
discomfortwithacurrentrole,ortodiscoveranyconflictbetweentheindividualsexistingjobroleandtherole
theywouldliketoplay.

The use ofBelbin profiles promotesdiscussion ascolleaguescan be encouragedtowards open discussionof the
behaviourstheydisplayorobserve.Sincebehaviourisevidential,theclaimsthereportmakesaboutanindividual
can be corroborated or refuted with real, everyday examples. Whilst encouraging openness and honesty, the
language of Team Roles helps to diffuse conflict by using constructive, nonconfrontational language to explore
strengthsandweaknesses.

Toviewafullsamplereportcombiningindividualandobserverfeedback,pleasevisit:
http://www.belbin.com/content/page/1154/Belbin%20sample%20SPI+Obs.%20ReportsA4.pdf

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ii)Jobprofiling

It is increasingly difficult for an employer to judge an individuals potential success in a job from qualifications
alone. Whether for recruitment or development purposes, it is important to ensure a good match between
someonesTeamRoleprofileandtheTeamRolerequirementsofajob.
Belbin identifies the difference between
eligibilityandsuitability.Eligibilityrefersto
pastexperience,e.g.qualifications,training,
cultivated skills. Suitability refers to future
potential: the degree of fit between an
individuals behavioural characteristics and
thejobheorshedoes.
In addition to assessing individuals Team
Roles, Belbin can also be used to profile a
job,inotherwords,todefineajobinterms
of Team Roles. Theperson responsible for
the job (for example, the line manager) is
asked to complete the Job Requirements
inventory, which investigates the various
characteristics which are required for the
job.Jobobservationscanalsobeaddedsothatthosewhocomeintocontactwith,orhaveacloseunderstanding
of,thejobconcerned(e.g.colleagues,managers,clients)cancontributetodefiningtherole.
ThejobprofilecanthenbedirectlycomparedtoaSelfPerceptionprofiletojudgeanindividualssuitabilityand
compatibilityforthejobinquestion.

In any situation where matching an individualto a jobs isimportant,this reportcanbea useful tool toindicate
potential success in the job. For the purposes of individual review and development, this process can help to
establishwheretheremightbediscrepanciesbetweenamanagersexpectationsandanindividualspotential,by
addressingthedifferencesthroughthelanguageofTeamRoles:

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Belbins theories on their own, are not a panacea to [sic] the industrys recruitment, management and
leadership problems. However, they are a readily available and excellent aid to preventing disastrous
recruitmentandselectionmistakes.Thisinturnpreventsaddingfurthertothepoolofautocraticmanagers
inourindustry.

~HelenBennett,200118

ThereisnoTeamRoleformulaforagivenfunctionalrole(e.g.marketingmanageroraccountant)sincethismay
changefromoneorganisationalculturetoanother.However,theuseofObserverAssessmentsandjobprofiling
helps to anchor an individuals selfawareness in a specific working environment. For example, an individual
startinganewjobmightlearnaboutthekindofbehaviourthatjobrequires,whilstthemanagermaygaininsight
intohowthecandidatemightfulfilthatjobgivenhisorherTeamRolepropensities.Theuseofjobreportingcan
providemanagerandcandidatealikewithbehaviouralexpectationsastowhatthejobrequires.Itmaybethat
someonesindividualworkingstyleisagoodfitwiththejobfromtheoutset.Wherethereisnotanimmediatefit
andthejobholderisveryproficientintherole,itcouldbethatthejobboundariesandrequirementsareslightly
differentthanthemanagerperceives,orindeed,thattheindividualhasadaptedtotherequirementsoftherole.
Jobreportingcanbeusedtoprovidegapanalysisandasafocalpointfordiscussion.

InManagementTeams:WhyTheySucceedorFail,JanaKrajcarovascasestudydescribeshowBelbinsindividual
and job profiling was used to resolve conflict between a quality control manager and the CEO. Whilst self
perceptionprofilesallowedtheindividualsconcernedtoappreciatetheirtwodistinctapproaches,thejobprofiling
identified the real source of the conflict: the fact that the CEO envisaged the quality control manager role as
requiringCoordinatorandShapercharacteristics,whilstthepresentincumbentwasastrongMonitorEvaluator.
The process of defining the job led towards a new job specification and a personal development plan for the
manager. The author comments, we managed to solve this sensitive problem not only without any personal
frustrations and animosity, but also with a significant increase in the motivation of both managers. For more
information on Meredith Belbins book, Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, please visit:
http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=28.

Please note that Belbin can be used as a recruitment and selection tool. Team Roles provide an insight into
working and team relationships, but the profiles should not be used as the sole basis for making recruitment
decisions.

18

Findingroundpegsforroundholes(HelenBennett,TheHospitalityReview,July2001,p.19).
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Belbininpractice

There is much evidence of the use of Team Role theory in general to promote self and mutual understanding,
more effective management and even significant culture change, which, in turn, translates into higher
performanceandevidentialcommercialandorganisationalsuccess.

MoreinformationontheapplicationofTeamRoletheorywithpositiveresultscanbefoundinthecasestudiesin
Meredith Belbins book, Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail. From tackling language barriers in
internationalfirms,toaddressingchangestrategy,topersonaldevelopmentofyoungpeople,thesecasestudies
containactualscenariosandoutcomesfromusingtheBelbinmodel.

All quotations below are taken from the case studies mentioned above. Please visit our website at
http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=28 for more details and to order Management Teams: Why They Succeed or
Fail.

HereBelbinsmethodsplayedasignificantroleinrevealingthepresenceorabsenceofcertainattributes
andincreasingteammembersawarenessofeachother.[...]Thischangehaswithoutexceptionresulted
inbetterteamsandbettermanagement.

~AsbjornAanesen,LinjegodsAS

UsingTeamRolesinchangestrategy,oneorganisationcreditstheiruseofBelbinwith:

Thecreationanddeliveryofacredibleandrobuststrategy,whichdelivered55percentprofitgrowthin
lessthanthreeyearsandThedevelopmentofarich,diverseteamculture,whichdevelopeditsskillsin
thedeliveryofahighqualityserviceandbrandsintheconsumermarketingarena.

~PaulWielgus,SocialInnovationUKandChrisZanetti,AlliedDomecq,Germany

Commentingontheuseofeinterplaceinaschool,DelphineRushtoncomments:

Whetheritbeayoungteacherconsideringtheirfirstmovefromclassroomoperatorintoamanagerial
post, or a senior manager wishing to pursue further leadership roles, it provides feedback on team
strengths and career direction. Unconnected with assessment of performance linked with pay, it helps
staff evaluate their current responsibilities and contributions. Staff have not had access to this kind of
feedbackbeforeandtheyhavefoundittobebothilluminatingandproductive.

~DelphineRushton,RichmondSchool

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Testing,BiasandFairness

Intesting,itisimportanttoensurethattherearenotsignificantdifferencesintestscoresforcertaingroups.A
testcanbesaidtobebiased,forexample,iffemalesconsistentlyscoredsignificantlyhigherthandidmalesfora
particular trait; or if members of different ethnic groups felt discouraged to answer certain items for cultural
reasons.

BelbinandGender

TheBelbineinterplacesystemcollectsinformationregardingthegenderofrespondentsinordertoscriptreports
correctly.Thisinformationisnotusedinanypartofthecalculationprocessanddoesnotaffectthedatacollected.

Belbin has conducted analysis using a database of more than 20,000 respondents, whose data was processed
through the Belbin einterplace system.Withthis largedataset anduptodate, validversion of theBTRSPI, the
effectofTypeIandTypeIIerrorsweresignificantlyreduced(formoreinformationonTypeIandTypeIIerrors,
pleaseseetheFurtherReadingsectionbelow).

The graph demonstrates that there is very little gender difference for any Team Role (in this case, only Self
Perceptiondatawasused).Thegreatestdifference(2.6%)betweenmaleandfemalerespondentswasfoundfor
MonitorEvaluator(ME)andeventhisfigurerepresentsonlyasmalldifferenceof1.8MEmarksperSPI.

TherearetwopublishedresearchstudieswhichhavebeenconductedconcerningBelbinandgender,withvaried
results. However, it should be noted that both studies used considerably smaller sample sizes of 185 and 390
respondentsrespectively.(Formoreinformationonthestatisticalerrorscausedbyusingasmallorinappropriate
sample size, please see the Further Reading section below.) Moreover, the findings of both studies were
compromisedbytheuseoftheobsoleteselfscoringBTRSPItoproduceresults.(Formoreinformationonwhythis
version should not be used, please see the Administration and Scoring section above). In 1996, Balderson &
BroderickusedclustersofTeamRolesandreportedthattherewasnostatisticallysignificantdifferencebetween
membershipofclustersformenandwomen.However,theyalsoreportedthat,inaseparateanalysis,MEandPL
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BelbinAssociates2009

werefoundtodiscriminatebetweengender,withwomenscoringhigheronbothTeamRolesthanmen.19Inturn,
Anderson & Sleaps 2004 study claimed to find a bias in favour of CO and SH for men, and TW for women.
However,theresearchersadmitthattheirresultsarefarfromdefinitive.20

Giventhattheresultsofthetwostudiesappeartocontradictoneanother,andinviewofBelbinsfindingsfroma
datasetover100timeslarger,BelbinconcludesthatthereisnosignificantgenderbiasforanyTeamRoleandthat
thetworesearchstudiesdemonstratenaturalvariationbetweensamplegroups,highlightingonlythoseindividual
differenceswhichBelbincelebrates.

BelbinandEthnicOrigin

BelbinTeamRolesisaninternationallanguage,usedallovertheworld.TheBTRSPIhasbeentranslatedintomany
differentlanguagesbyprofessionalsfamiliarwiththeBelbinTeamRoletheory,whotakegreatcaretoensurethat
thenuancesoflanguage in theBTRSPI are captured indifferentlanguages. For moredetails on ouragents and
distributors outside the UK, please visit http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=93. The Belbin einterplace system
allows an individual user to create norms which reflect Team Role preferences for a given culture, whether
organisationalornational.Formoreinformationonnorming,pleaseseetheNormingsectionabove.

BelbinandAge

Todate,nodatahavebeengatheredregardingageandrespondents,sincethisisnotrequiredbyeinterplacefor
the profiling process. Whilst there are no known differences in terms of preferred Team Roles, it is sometimes
observedthatthosewhohavebeenintheworkenvironmentforalongerperiodoftimearelikelytohaveamore
defined or polarised Team Role profile, since a longer experience of a working environment tends to increase
awarenessofonesstrengthsandweaknesses.

IfanindividualislesssureoftheircontributionandtheTeamRoleprofiledoesnotseemsowelldefined,itisbest
practicetoaddObserverAssessments.Aswellasovercomingthelimitationsofselfreporting,thisgivessomeone
newtotheworkenvironmentsomehintsastowheretheircolleaguesacknowledgetheirstrengthsandtalentsto
lie, thereby maximising the opportunity for selfdevelopment and cultivation of their stronger Team Roles. For
moreinformationonthelimitationsofselfreportingandtheadvantagesofaddingObserverAssessments,please
seetheConcordantValiditysectionabove.

19

BehaviourinTeams:ExploringOccupationalandGenderDifferences(Balderson&Broderick,1996).
AnEvaluationofGenderDifferencesontheBelbinTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventory(Anderson&Sleap,2004).
21

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BelbinAssociates2009

BelbinandManagement

TheoriginalresearchconductedbyMeredithBelbininthe1970swasconductedwithasampleoftopmanagers.
However,researchhasdemonstratedthattheBTRSPIcanbeusedatalloperationallevels.Inotherwords,Team
Roles are relevant for anyone in the work environment who interacts with others and wishes to learn more
about his or her own behaviour, and that of colleagues and managers. The Observer Assessment encourages
feedback throughout the strata of an organisation and is intended to provide a universal language to address
difficultissueswhichmightotherwisecauseconflictwithinteams.

Having examined the distribution of Team Roles among UK Managers in their 1998 study, Fisher, Hunter &
MacrossonwentontoinvestigatetheuseofBelbinfornonmanagers.Theyemployedateamworkingexercisein
theirexperiment,concludingthatBelbinTeamRoletheorycouldbeequallyapplicabletononmanagerialaswell
as managerial teams.21 Please see the Further Reading section for more information regarding Belbin and
management.

21

BelbinsTeamRoleTheory:ForNonManagersAlso?(Fisher,Hunter&Macrosson,2001).
22

BelbinAssociates2009

FurtherReading

BooksfromBelbin

Belbinslatestbook,TheBelbinGuidetoSucceedingatWork(A&CBlack,20089.ISBN:9781
408115015),providesanidealintroductiontoBelbinTeamRoles,helpingyoutounderstand
yourself,andhowtoprojectyourbehaviourtoyouradvantage.

It makes an ideal handout for any teambuilding or selfdevelopment course. For more
information,pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=149.

MeredithBelbinhaswrittentwobookswhichareparticularlyrelevanttotheuseofBelbinTeamRoles:

R.MeredithBelbin,ManagementTeams:WhyTheySucceedorFail(ButterworthHeinemann,3rd
ed.,2010.)ISBN:9781856178075(Originallypublished,1981)
ThisbookprovidesaninformativeintroductiontoTeamRoletheory.Itisoneofthemostwidely
read,imaginativeandinfluentialbooksonthisvitalareaofmanagementresearchandwascited
bytheFTasoneofthetopfiftybusinessbooksofalltime.

Formoreinformation,pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=28.

R.MeredithBelbin,TeamRolesatWork(ButterworthHeinemann,2nded.,2010.)ISBN9781
856178006(Originallypublished,1993)
ThisbookprovidesanidealpracticalguidetoBelbinTeamRoles.Findouthowtoapplythenine
BelbinTeamRolesinapracticalsetting.Operationalstrategiesprovideideas,techniquesanda
newrangeofinformationandadvicewhichcanbeusedtotheadvantageoftheorganisation.

Formoreinformation,pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=29.

OthertitlesfromBelbin

R.MeredithBelbin,TheComingShapeofOrganization(ButterworthHeinemann,1996)
R.MeredithBelbin,ChangingtheWayWeWork(ButterworthHeinemann,1997)
R.MeredithBelbin,BeyondTheTeam(ButterworthHeinemann,2000)
R.MeredithBelbin,ManagingwithoutPowerGenderRelationshipsintheStoryofHumanEvolution(Butterworth
Heinemann,2001)

Pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=156formoregeneralinformationonBelbinbooks.

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BelbinAssociates2009

FurtherReading

ResearchStudies

Owingtoitspopularacclaimandsuccessintheworkplace,theBTRSPIhasbeenthesubjectofmuchresearchfrom
1993 to the present day, claiming the interest of psychologists and academics, as well as those working with
teams.However,researchintotheBTRSPIhasbeencharacterisedbyanumberoferroneouspractices:

The BTRSPI measures behaviour and produces output in terms of Team Roles. Team Roles are not
personality traits, but clusters of behaviour. Since the BTRSPI is a behavioural, not a psychometric,
analysis, research into its psychometric properties produced variable results. Although 23 out of 32
studies showed positive evidence supporting the BTRSPI, only 4 out of 9 studies on the psychometrical
properties of the inventory produced supportive evidence, because the inventory was being tested for
characteristicsitwasnotintendedtopossess.

Manystudies havebeenconductedusingthenowobsolete,selfscoringversionoftheBTRSPI,whichis
missingaTeamRole,isnotproperlynormed,isnotsubstantiatedbyObserverAssessmentsanddoesnot
produce detailed feedback. For more information, please see the Administration and Scoring section
above.

Somestudiescreated,andexperimentedwith,anormativeversionoftheBTRSPI.PleasenotethatBelbin
ownsthecopyrighttotheBTRSPIandthatreproductionand/oralterationoftheBTRSPIisprohibitedby
Belbin.Formoreinformation,pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=7.

Themajorityofearlystudieswereconductedwithsmallorinappropriatesamplesizes,whichmagnified
thechanceofTypeIandTypeIIerrors.Thesearestatisticalerrorswhicharemorelikelytooccurwhen
thesamplesizeissmall:
o In Type I errors (also called rejecting null when null is true or false positive), researchers
mistakenlythinkthatastatisticaldifferenceexistswhen,intruth,thereisnostatisticaldifference
(inotherwords,thenullhypothesisistruebutwasmistakenlyrejected).

o InType2errors(alsocalledretainingnullwhennullisfalseorfalsenegative),researchersfail
torejectthenullhypothesis,eventhoughthealternativehypothesisistrue.

When reading research studies conducted on the BTRSPI and analysing the findings, it is useful to bear these
frequentlyencounteredshortcomingsinmind.

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BelbinAssociates2009

einterplaceResearchArticles

Thefollowingstudieswereconductedusingeinterplacedata.TheauthorsaskedBelbinAssociatesforaccessto
thisdata,whichisfullynormedandconsistsofmorethan5,000records.

StephenSwailesetal.areindependentresearchersbasedattheUniversityofHull.Hisstudiesdemonstratethat
theBTRSPIhasgoodreliabilityandvalidity(pleaseseetheReliabilityandValiditysectionsabove)andwhich
takes into account the unique ipsative and nonipsative characteristics of the BTRSPI. The following articles in
particulararerecommended(indateorder).

Aritzeta,Ayestaran&Swailes,TeamRolePreferenceandConflictManagementStyles(2005)
Aritzeta,Senior&Swailes,BelbinTeamRolePreferenceandCognitiveStyles:AConvergentValidityStudy(2004)
Aritzeta, Senior & Swailes, Belbins Team Role Model: Development, Validity and Applications for Team Building
(2007)
Aritzeta, Swailes & McIntyreBhatty, Further Evidence on the Validity of the Belbin Team Role Self Perception
InventoryandtheObserversAssessmentSheet(2004)*
Aritzeta,Swailes&Senior,TeamRoles:PsychometricEvidence,ConstructValidityandTeamBuilding(2005)
Beck, Fisch & Bergander, Functional Roles in Work Groups An Empirical Approach to the Study of Group Role
Diversity(1999)
McIntyreBhatty & Swailes, The Reliability of the (Belbin) Team Role SelfPerception Inventory: Cronbachs alpha
andipsativescales(2000)
Morison,Chris,AnInvestigationofBelbinTeamRolesasaMeasureofBusinessCulture(2008)
Swailes&Aritzeta,ScalePropertiesoftheTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventory(2006)
Swailes&McIntyreBhatty,UsesandAbusesofReliabilityEstimates:TheCaseoftheBelbinTRSPI(2001)
vanDierendonck&Groen,BelbinRevisited:TheConstructValidityoftheInterplaceIITeamRoleInstrument(2008)

*=ContainsacomprehensiveliteraturereviewoftheresearchtodateontheBTRSPI.

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OtherArticles

The following studies were conducted using the obsolete selfscoring version of the BTRSPI and without
approachingBelbinAssociatestorequesttheuseofalargedataset.Pleasenotethatevidenceislargelyaffected
bytheuseofanonsanctionedBTRSPIandsmallerdatasets,asoutlinedabove.

Anderson&Sleap,AnEvaluationofGenderDifferencesontheBelbinTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventory(2004)
Arroba&WedgwoodOppenheim,DoSeniorManagersDifferinthePublicandPrivateSector?:AnExaminationof
TeamRolePreferences(1994)
Balderson&Broderick,BehaviourinTeams:ExploringOccupationalandGenderDifferences(1996)
Blignaut & Venter, Teamwork: can it equip university science students with more than rigid subject knowledge?
(1998)
Dulewicz, Victor, A Validation of Belbins Team Roles from 16PF and OPQ using Bosses Ratings of Competence
(1995)
Dulewicz&Higgs,Canemotionalintelligencebemeasuredanddeveloped?(1999)
Fisher,Hunter&Macrosson,TheDistributionofBelbinTeamRolesAmongUKManagers(1998)
Fisher,Hunter&Macrosson,BelbinsTeamRoleTheory:ForNonManagersAlso?(2001)
Fisher,Macrosson&Semple,ControlandBelbinsteamroles(2000)
Fisher,Macrosson&Sharp,FurtherEvidenceConcerningtheBelbinTeamRoleSelfPerceptionInventory(1996)
Fisher,Macrosson&Wong,CognitiveStyleandTeamRolePreference(1998)
Henry&Stevens,UsingBelbinsleadershiproletoimproveteameffectiveness:Anempiricalinvestigation(1999)
Lessem&Baruch,TestingtheSMTandBelbininventoriesintopmanagementteams(1999)
Macrosson&Hemphill,MachiavellianisminBelbinteamroles(2000)
Prichard&Stanton,TestingBelbinsteamroletheoryofeffectivegroups(1999)
Rushmer, Is Belbins shaper really TMSs thrusterorganizer? An empirical investigation into the correspondence
betweentheBelbinandTMSteamrolemodels(1996)
Shi & Tang, Team role behaviour and task environment: An exploratory study of five organizations and their
managers(1997)
Sommerville & Dalziel, Project teambuilding the applicability of Belbins teamrole selfperception inventory
(1998)
FormoreinformationonanyaspectofBelbin,pleasevisithttp://www.belbin.com.

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