The Daily Stat from Harvard Business Review

September 15, 2015     A Key Factor in a National Soccer Team’s Success: The Country’s Egalitarianism The relatively high “psychological equality” in countries such as Spain, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy in the 1990s, as measured by surveys, predicted performance increases in those countries’ national soccer teams over the subsequent 15 years, say Roderick I. Swaab of Insead and Adam D. Galinsky of Columbia Business School. Countries with high psychological equality are those in which people are more likely to endorse the belief that all people are of equal worth. Egalitarian societies tend to open opportunities for all, whereas more-hierarchical countries prevent disadvantaged people from fulfilling opportunities. SOURCE: Egalitarianism makes organizations stronger: Cross-national variation in institutional and psychological equality predicts talent levels and the performance of national teams

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