Purpose under pressure: how calling, recovery, emotional regulation and flow shape elite athletic performance.

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) refers to a process in which multiple individuals work together to solve a problem by exchanging knowledge, skills, and resources in pursuit of a shared solution (). Recent technological advancements have substantially expanded the ways in which these collaborative processes can be supported, studied, and analyzed (e.g., ). In particular, developments in artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) have enabled more advanced and increasingly (semi-)automated forms of data processing, such as facial emotion recognition and automatic speech recognition. These developments have stimulated growing interest in the analysis of both verbal and non-verbal indicators of collaboration (e.g., ). At the same time, research has increasingly examined factors that may shape team behavior in collaborative environments (e.g., ). These factors include individual characteristics of team members, such as gender, ethnicity, age, and personality traits; group characteristics, such as team composition; task characteristics; and technology use. According to , social elements play a pivotal role in the success of CPS processes. One factor that has received growing attention is personality. For example, studies have examined how team composition based on personality traits is associated with group performance outcomes (). Similarly, in organizational psychology, increasing attention has been paid to the links between personality and team performance, as well as other important life outcomes (). Despite these developments, the role of personality in CPS remains insufficiently understood (). In particular, research on the relationship between team members’ personality traits and CPS behaviors is still limited (). The present paper addresses this gap by investigating verbal interactions during adult CPS using multiple analytic techniques. CPS can be understood as a dynamic system in which multiple factors interact to shape how teams collaborate and perform (). A useful framework for structuring this system is the Context–Input–Mediator–Output–Input (CIMOI) framework, which conceptualizes teamwork as a cyclical process in which contextual conditions and team inputs influence team mediators, which in turn shape team outputs and may feed back into future collaboration (; ). Compared with earlier Input–Process–Output models (e.g., ), the CIMOI framework places greater emphasis on the broader context of collaboration, the dynamic nature of team functioning, and the role of mediating mechanisms through which inputs are translated into outcomes. Applied to CPS, the CIMOI framework emphasizes that team performance arises from the interplay between what team members bring into the collaboration and how they interact during the problem-solving process. Team inputs may include relatively stable individual characteristics, such as personality or team roles (; ), whereas team mediators refer to the mechanisms through which collaboration unfolds. These team mediators are often divided into team processes and emergent states (). Team processes refer to the observable actions and interactions. Emergent states, in contrast, refer to more implicit and dynamic team properties, such as trust, cohesion, and team flow (; , ). In CPS, communication is a particularly important team process. Verbal interaction provides one of the most direct ways to examine how team members construct shared understanding, negotiate, coordinate, and maintain team functioning (; ).