Consensus is often considered a critical team decision-making outcome because it has long been associated with the subsequent commitment of team members to the decision. We contend that consensus is a dynamic multilevel process that may take different forms (i.e., aligned, discovered, calculated, and acquiesced), each of which has a different influence on team member decision commitment. We examine the effects of these four consensus types on post-decision commitment across two experiments, using different tasks and employing both perceptual and behavioral commitment measures. Our results show robust differences in commitment across the four consensus types. Team members are more committed to a consensual decision when it aligns with their individually preferred choice (aligned consensus) as compared to when it represents a merely acceptable choice (discovered consensus) or when their teammates convince them to change their preferences through group discussion (calculated consensus). Moreover, these three consensus types all engender more commitment than when team members are pressured into agreeing to a collective decision (acquiesced consensus). Overall, this research emphasizes the importance of understanding how teams come to consensus instead of simply whether they come to consensus.
