Member Mobility Cascades in Virtual Teams: The Unexpected Role of Brokering Preference

Abstract

Abstract Despite much scholarly interest in team collaboration in virtual worlds, limited attention has been paid to the risks posed by member mobility cascades and to identifying key members who play a critical role in sustaining team resilience under such conditions. This study proposes that key members can be identified through their consistent interpersonal network-building preferences across social roles. Relational event models traced 6,114 individuals who joined or left 3,056 teams over three years on a large gaming platform. The results show that during inbound mobility cascades, where prior member attraction increases subsequent inbound mobility and reduces outbound mobility, collaboration-prone individuals tend to follow this trend because of their preference for integrating disconnected members and seeking recognition for prosocial contributions. Conversely, in outbound mobility cascades, where prior attrition triggers further outbound mobility and suppresses inbound mobility, arbitration-prone individuals tend to deviate from this trend because of their preference to pursue a vision of converging diverse resources and maintaining control over resource flows.