When and how do differences matter? An exploration of perceived similarity in teams

In this paper, we directly assess perceived similarity—the degree to which members view themselves as having few differences—because we want to understand when teams notice diversity on various member characteristics and how they interpret it. Our results indicate social category diversity was related to initial estimates of both perceived social category similarity (SCS) and perceived work style similarity (WSS). And, whereas perceived SCS did not change over time, perceived WSS decreased significantly over the period of our study. We suggest this change in perceived WSS can be explained by an information-processing/decision-making framework. We found informational diversity was positively related to conflict in teams, and in turn conflict was negatively related to subsequent estimates of perceived WSS. However, informational diversity was positively related to information sharing in teams, which in turn was positively related to subsequent estimates of perceived WSS. Finally, these updated estimates of perceived WSS affected subgroup formation and team process effectiveness. We discuss how our research explores the subjective experience of diversity by team members, provides a dynamic view of the relationship between diversity and team outcomes, and informs emerging theory about the activation of faultlines in teams.     

Do perceived differences in religion matter at work?

Over 90% of the United States population affiliates with an organised religion. There has been, however, very little research regarding religion in work organisations. This study focuses on the effects of individual perceptions of religious dissimilarity, as a characteristic of deep-level diversity, on perceived cohesion. A scale is developed to measure individual perceptions of the dissimilarity of religion. Two different studies are used to establish reliability and validity of this scale. In addition, some implications of the negative relationship between individual perceptions of religious dissimilarity and perceived cohesion for organisations are discussed.     

团队内冲突对团队效能的影响及作用机制

冲突是团队有效运作面临的主要挑战之一。学术界关于冲突与团队效能关系的研究结论未能达成共识, 引发了关于冲突对团队效能作用机制的探讨。回顾国内外相关文献发现, 团队特征(团队情绪、多元化、团队规范与文化价值观)、团队过程(冲突管理、信任)及任务特征等因素, 对于冲突对团队效能的作用过程具有调节作用。而基于冲突原因视角探讨团队内冲突对团队效能的影响、冲突的动态性、团队新成员冲突的激活效应和冲突与团队效能关系的本土化研究等应是未来的研究方向。     

Taking a deeper look inside autonomous and interdependent teams: why,how, and when does informational dissimilarity elicit dysfunctional versus beneficial effects

ABSTRACT

Organizations increasingly use cross-functional teams, characterized by autonomy and interdependence, to improve innovation and to adapt to a dynamic business environment. Based on this trend, prior research started to investigate informational dissimilarity (employee’s dissimilarity relative to teammates regarding education, job specialization, and expertise) in teams. Two key team outcomes are 1) team members’ satisfaction with the team and 2) the team’s proactivity. Paradoxically, some researchers reported dysfunctional informational dissimilarity effects on employee outcomes, while some reported beneficial effects. To integrate opposing informational dissimilarity effects, we apply the categorization-elaboration model of team diversity. We theorize that perceived informational dissimilarity can elicit simultaneously dysfunctional effects on satisfaction with the team and beneficial effects on the team member’s proactivity. We specify the mechanisms of both effects by investigating the mediating roles of peer unfairness (representing dysfunctional informational dissimilarity effects) and information elaboration (representing beneficial informational dissimilarity effects). To reconcile these contradicting processes, we analyse the role of trust. We conducted a survey study at three different measurement time points with team members from different organizations. The results indicate that trust in teammates dampens dysfunctional informational dissimilarity effects and amplifies beneficial effects.     

"What about me?" Perceptions of exclusion and whites' reactions to multiculturalism

A 5-study investigation of reactions of dominant group members (i.e., White Americans) to diversity (relative to racial minority reactions) provides evidence of implicit and explicit associations between multiculturalism and exclusion and of a relationship between perceived exclusion and reactions to diversity. In Study 1, Whites but not racial minorities were faster in an implicit association task at pairing multiculturalism with exclusion than with inclusion. This association diminished in Study 2 through a subtle framing of diversity efforts as targeted toward all groups, including European Americans. In Study 3, in a "Me/Not Me" task, Whites were less likely than minorities to pair multiculturalism concepts with the self and were slower in responding to multiculturalism concepts. Furthermore, associating multiculturalism with the self (Study 3) or feeling included in organizational diversity (Study 4) predicted Whites' endorsement of diversity and also accounted for the oft-cited group status difference in support for diversity initiatives. Study 5 showed that individual differences in need to belong moderated Whites' interest in working for organizations that espouse a multicultural versus a color-blind approach to diversity, with individuals higher in need to belong less attracted to organizations with a multicultural approach. Overall, results show that the purportedly "inclusive" ideology of multiculturalism is not perceived as such by Whites. This may, in part, account for their lower support for diversity efforts in education and work settings.     

Expatriate adjustment: The role of justice and conflict in intimate relationships

Framing expatriation as family relocation, this research examines the influence of perceived justice and conflict on the psychological adjustment of 103 expatriate couples. Based on the actor–partner interdependence model, the proposed model simultaneously addresses effects of justice and conflict on own and partner's outcomes. Supporting the current model, and based on the self‐interest model, distributive justice influenced work‐related task conflict among expatriates and household‐related task conflict among expatriate spouses. Among expatriate spouses, and in line with the group‐value model, fairness perceptions regarding interpersonal treatment influenced both parties' personal conflict. Unanticipated, both parties' distributive justice also influenced personal conflict. Personal conflict negatively affected both parties' psychological adjustment and acted as a mediator in the relationship between distributive justice and psychological adjustment.     

Surface‐ and deep‐level dissimilarity effects on social integration and individual effectiveness related outcomes in work groups: A meta‐analytic integration

Prior research linking demographic (e.g., age, ethnicity/race, gender, and tenure) and underlying psychological (e.g., personality, attitudes, and values) dissimilarity variables to individual group member's work‐related outcomes produced mixed and contradictory results. To account for these findings, this study develops a contingency framework and tests it using meta‐analytic and structural equation modelling techniques. In line with this framework, results showed different effects of surface‐level (i.e., demographic) dissimilarity and deep‐level (i.e., underlying psychological) dissimilarity on social integration, and ultimately on individual effectiveness related outcomes (i.e., turnover, task, and contextual performance). Specifically, surface‐level dissimilarity had a negative effect on social integration under low but not under high team interdependence. In return, social integration fully mediated the negative relationship between surface‐level dissimilarity and individual effectiveness related outcomes under low interdependence. In contrast, deep‐level dissimilarity had a negative effect on social integration, which was stronger under high and weaker under low team interdependence. Contrary to our predictions, social integration did not mediate the negative relationship between deep‐level dissimilarity and individual effectiveness related outcomes but suppressed positive direct effects of deep‐level dissimilarity on individual effectiveness related outcomes. Possible explanations for these counterintuitive findings are discussed.     

基于IPO模型的团队多样性-冲突-绩效权变模型的元分析

本文建立基于IPO模型的团队多样性-冲突-绩效的权变模型。通过对国内外的112篇实证文章（n=9263）进行元分析,本文定量地梳理近年来团队多样性-团队冲突-团队绩效之间关系的研究文献,并重点考察团队冲突与团队绩效之间的调节变量。元分析结果发现：团队深层多样性是引起团队冲突的重要因素,表层多样性并不会显著增加团队冲突;与美国的研究不同,中国情境下任务冲突将显著降低团队绩效;被试类型、回收率、团队规模和团队冲突的不对称感知等变量调节团队冲突与团队绩效之间的关系。     

THE IMPACT OF PAY SECRECY ON INDIVIDUAL TASK PERFORMANCE

We generate and test a moderated mediation model of the effects of pay secrecy—a pay communication policy restricting employees’ access to information regarding the level of other employees’ pay in the organization—on individual task performance. According to this model, the effects of such a policy are posited to be mediated by informational fairness, procedural fairness, and performance-pay instrumentality perceptions, and moderated by tolerance for inequity. Using a lab-based simulation, our findings partially support this model, suggesting that perceived instrumentality mediates the adverse effect of pay secrecy on individual task performance but only for those low in inequity tolerance. For them, the instrumentality-mediated indirect effect accounted for over 20% of the total effect of pay secrecy on individual task performance. For those highly tolerant of inequity, a policy of pay secrecy was found to be directly associated with a higher level of individual performance than pay openness. The implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.     

Task conflict,information processing,and decision-making: The damaging effect of relationship conflict

A popular theoretical assumption holds that task-related disagreements stimulate critical thinking, and thus may improve group decision making. Two recent meta-analyses showed, however, that task conflict can have a positive effect, a negative effect, or no effect at all on decision-making quality (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012). In two studies, we built upon the suggestion of both meta-analyses that the presence of relationship conflict determines whether a task conflict is positively or negatively related to decision making. We hypothesized and found that the level of perceived relationship conflict during task conflict (Study 1), and the actual presence (vs. absence) of relationship conflict during task conflict (Study 2), increased group members’ rigidity in holding onto suboptimal initial preferences during decision making and thus led to poor decisions. In both studies the effect of relationship conflict on decision making was mediated by biased use of information.     

The Role of Perceived Demographic Dissimilarity and Interaction in Customer‐Service Satisfaction1

The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of perceived demographic dissimilarity and interaction on customer‐service satisfaction. Data were collected from 301 spectators at a professional men's tennis tournament. Results indicate that perceived demographic dissimilarity was negatively associated with customer service satisfaction. Further, this relationship was moderated by the amount of interaction between the employee and customer, such that the negative relationship was strongest when interaction was high. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications related to relational demography and practical implications in terms of the “business case” for diversity.     

Exploring diversity effects: nationality composition and nationality context in workgroups

The types of conflict that emerge in nationally diverse teams may depend on the number and types of nationalities present in the team. We investigate the possibility that when teams have individuals from multiple different nationalities (i.e., Dutch, Swiss and Indonesian), rather than just two different nationalities (Dutch and Indonesian), performance and task conflict will be higher while process and relationship conflicts will be comparatively lower. A scenario-based study was conducted in two countries in which we examined how nationality composition (size of national diversity or number of nationalities) and context (nature of national diversity or types of nationalities) affected perceived conflict and expected performance. We hypothesized and found that task conflict and performance are higher in nationally diverse workgroups that included multiple dissimilar nationalities compared to workgroups with just two nationalities. Results also showed that relationship and process conflicts are lower in groups that are diverse in size and nature of national diversity. We observed that social distances among nationalities varied in such a way that a distant nationality became more distanced and a close nationality became even closer in a nationally diverse group. Social distance, in that way, moderated the effect of national diversity. We discuss implications for diversity and conflict management.     

心理资本与建言行为的关系:变革开放性和组织支持感的作用研究

基于积极心理资本理论和情感事件理论相结合的理论视角,研究采用两阶段追踪问卷调查方法收集数据,探讨了心理资本与员工建言行为的关系以及变革开放性和组织支持感在这个过程中的作用机制。数据分析结果表明:员工心理资本显著正向影响建言行为,变革开放性在心理资本与建言行为之间起着部分中介作用,组织支持感显著调节心理资本通过变革开放性影响建言行为的间接效应,在高组织支持感的条件下,变革开放性在心理资本影响建言行为过程中的中介作用显著,但是在低组织支持感的条件下,变革开放性的中介作用不明显。。     

Generalization of relative competence mediating conformity across differing tasks

Subject correctness and group agreement were initially varied for college subjects performing a multiple-choice informational task (Canadian Knowledge Inventory). On a subsequent perceptual task (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices), the dependent variable of conformity was assessed to examine generalization of relative competence formed on the informational task. It was seen that: (1) Those who perceived themselves to be less competent than the group on the first task exhibited the greatest level of conformity on the second task, thus replicating previous research on perceived relative competence as a determinant of conformity; (2) suspicion reduced conformity.     

Maintaining an open mind to closed individuals: The effect of resource availability and leadership style on the association between openness to experience and organizational commitment

This paper examines whether workplace characteristics, particularly resource availability and transformational leadership, moderate the association between openness to experience and organizational commitment. In Study 1, 205 employees completed a questionnaire that assessed their openness, organizational commitment, and perceived availability of resources at their organization. Openness reduced the extent to which individuals felt obliged to remain loyal to the organization, although this association diminished as resources became more accessible. In Study 2, 312 employees completed a similar questionnaire that also gauged the perceived leadership style of their supervisors. Transformational leadership amplified the positive relationship between openness and organizational commitment. These findings align with the proposition that individuals are more committed in work environments that facilitate the expression of their traits.     

The Influence of Conflict Issue Importance on the Co‐occurrence of Task and Relationship Conflict in Teams

Task conflicts may be beneficial for team performance whereas relationship conflicts are associated with negative team outcomes. Because the two conflict types are typically correlated within teams, it is difficult to enhance task conflicts and simultaneously avoid relationship conflicts. This study examines how importance of the conflict issue moderates the association between task and relationship conflict. In addition, the hypothesis was tested that the interaction between task conflict and issue importance on relationship conflict is mediated by task conflict emotionality. A sample of 50 teams provided data for this study. Results confirmed the buffering effect of conflict issue importance. When teams fight about important task issues, no association between task conflict and relationship conflict was found. This effect could be partially attributed to the decrease in negative emotions present in teams during important task conflicts. The implications of this study are described and directions for future research are indicated.     

Exploring relations between task conflict and informational conflict in the Stroop task

In this study, we tested the proposal that the Stroop task involves two conflicts—task conflict and informational conflict. Task conflict was defined as the latency difference between color words and non-letter neutrals, and manipulated by varying the proportion of color words versus non-letter neutrals. Informational conflict was defined as the latency difference between incongruent and congruent trials and manipulated by varying the congruent-to-incongruent trial ratio. We replicated previous findings showing that increasing the ratio of incongruent-to-congruent trials reduces the latency difference between the incongruent and congruent condition (i.e., informational conflict), as does increasing the proportion of color words (i.e., task conflict). A significant under-additive interaction between the two proportion manipulations (congruent vs. incongruent and color words vs. neutrals) indicated that the effects of task conflict and informational conflict were not additive. By assessing task conflict as the contrast between color words and neutrals, we found that task conflict existed in all of our experimental conditions. Under specific conditions, when task conflict dominated behavior by explaining most of the variability between congruency conditions, we also found negative facilitation, thus demonstrating that this effect is a special case of task conflict.     

L’influence longitudinale de la justice organisationnelle sur le bien-être psychologique au travail : quels types de justice sont déterminants ?

Regarding the relationship between perceived organizational justice and psychological well-being at work, few studies compare the influence of the four organizational justice facets, and even fewer do so longitudinally. The objective of this study is to evaluate the longitudinal relationships between these facets and psychological well-being at work. Social exchange theory suggests that distributive, interpersonal, and informational justices are better predictors of well-being than procedural justice. A sample of 192 Canadian workers from a diversity of occupations completed two self-reported questionnaires at a six-month interval. Results support the importance of rewards allocation (distributive justice) and information given on this allocation (informational justice) to promote workers’ well-being.     

How do people influence in jury deliberation? a social psychological view

Research in small-group decision making suggests two means by which discussion shifts the responses of individual members—Nonmative influence and informational influence. The former is based on pressure to conform to the normative positions of group members, and the latter involves changes due to the informational content of persuasively or passively shared facts. Which influence mode is used depends on the group decision rule, whether the response is public or private, the perceived nature of the task, and the nature of the issue. Specifically, normative influence is likely to prevail in public judgments, under group cohesion sets, and with value-laden issues, while informational influence will emerge when responses are private, the group is oriented toward the immediate task, and the issue is intellective. Suggestions are made regarding strategy and tactics for anticipating, harnessing, and shaping the form of influence that will take place during deliberation.     

The paradox of intragroup conflict: a meta-analysis

Since the meta-analysis by De Dreu and Weingart (2003b) on the effects of intragroup conflict on group outcomes, more than 80 new empirical studies of conflict have been conducted, often investigating more complex, moderated relationships between conflict and group outcomes, as well as new types of intragroup conflict, such as process conflict. To explore the trends in this new body of literature, we conducted a meta-analysis of 116 empirical studies of intragroup conflict (n = 8,880 groups) and its relationship with group outcomes. To address the heterogeneity across the studies included in the meta-analysis, we also investigated a number of moderating variables. Stable negative relationships were found between relationship and process conflict and group outcomes. In contrast to the results of De Dreu and Weingart, we did not find a strong and negative association between task conflict and group performance. Analyses of main effects as well as moderator analyses revealed a more complex picture. Task conflict and group performance were more positively related among studies where the association between task and relationship conflict was relatively weak, in studies conducted among top management teams rather than non-top management teams, and in studies where performance was measured in terms of financial performance or decision quality rather than overall performance.