A review of perceived diversity in teams: Does how members perceive their team's composition affect team processes and outcomes?

Abstract

Summary In this paper, we review the growing literature on perceived diversity in teams. We aim to clarify the construct of perceived diversity and organize the findings in this emergent line of research. To do so, we develop a framework integrating research emerging on perceived diversity from across several different research fields. We propose that the nature of perceived diversity and its effects can be best understood by identifying the focal point of the diversity perceptions being studied: perceptions of self‐to‐team dissimilarity, of subgroup splits, and of group heterogeneity. Our review concludes that perceived self‐to‐team dissimilarity and perceived subgroup splits mostly have been linked to negative effects for individuals and groups, whereas perceived group heterogeneity has been shown to exert both positive and negative effects on group outcomes. Our review also draws attention to the problem that research on perceived diversity varies not only in definitions and conceptualizations, but also in the methodological approaches towards operationalizing perceived diversity. We conclude by discussing potential areas for future research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Microdynamics in Diverse Teams: A Review and Integration of the Diversity and Stereotyping Literatures

“…As Shemla and colleagues (2016) note, several researchers have asked their study participants to rate whether they perceive that they are different from their work unit with questionnaire items such as "I feel I am racially different from others on the team" (Cunningham, Choi, & Sagas, 2008, p. 171) or "I feel I am visibly dissimilar to other team members" (Hobman, Bordia, & Gallois, 2003, p. 312). When elicited in this way, perceived relational dissimilarity is commonly associated with negative outcomes for the individual (Shemla et al, 2016).…”

“…There is some empirical evidence supporting this assumption Liao, Chuang, & Joshi, 2008; Zellmer-Bruhn et al, 2008), and the effects of perceived demographic diversity seem to decline over time, while the effects of deep-level diversity seems to increase (Harrison et al, 2002). However, these temporal effects of perceived diversity could not be replicated (Acar, 2010) and a recent review (Shemla et al, 2016) suggests that there is also no main effect of perceived diversity on team performance.All of these findings speak to the importance of contingency theories of team diversity. These posit that the processes underlying potential positive and negative effects of diversity operate simultaneously.…”

Widening the lens: Rethinking distance, diversity, and foreignness in international business research through positive organizational scholarship

“…Much IB research on cultural diversity has used objective demographic data such as nationality, or archival country values scores to measure the cultural diversity of team members. Recent developments in the team diversity literature highlight the value in considering the subjective experience of diversity as a more promising predictor of team processes and outcomes (e.g., Shemla, Meyer, Greer, & Jehn, 2014;ZellmerBruhn, Maloney, Bhappu, & Salvador, 2008) -differences may only matter if perceived by the team members. In the case of this study, perceived cultural diversity provided a positive catalyst to shared team innovation goals, increasing their relationship with inclusive team communication.…”

Subjective perception of diversity – manager's perspective

“…Uwagę zwraca się również na mediatory i modyfikatory tej zależności, np. czas wspólnej pracy zespołu 6 , rodzaj i złożoność zadania 7 , ale także działania podejmowane przez lidera 8 wynikające z przekonań i postaw, które wpływają na subiektywne postrzeganie i wartościowanie zróżnicowania zespołu 9 .…”