Content area
Full Text
We examined the impact of surface-level (demographic) and deep-level (attitudinal) diversity on group social integration. As hypothesized, the length of time group mem bers worked together weakened the effects of surface-level diversity and strengthened the effects of deep-level diversity as group members had the opportunity to engage in meaningful interactions.
Projected demographic characteristics of the U.S. workforce suggest that by the year 2000, approximately 80 percent of its new entrants will be women and members of ethnic minorities (Johnston & Packer, 1987). The increasing diversity of the workforce necessitates a better understanding of how such individual differences affect the functioning of work groups, as well as which types of differences are most consequential. Research examining the outcomes of diversity has frequently studied demographic differences among work group members. Consistent with Pfeffer's (1983) work on demography in organizations, the most commonly studied forms of diversity have been heterogeneity in age, sex, race, and to a lesser extent, organizational tenure. The emphasis on those variables is perhaps due to the ease with which researchers can measure them and group members can observe them, and also to the widespread belief that they are reasonable proxies for underlying psychological characteristics (Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Jackson, Stone, & Alvarez,1993; Pfeffer,1983; Tsui, Egan, & O'Reilly, 1992). Attention to those variables might also be driven by legislation prohibiting employment discrimination and mandating equal treatment without regard to race, sex, and age.
Effects of heterogeneity in these commonly studied characteristics have, however, been inconsistent across studies. Some of this inconsistency may have arisen because the connection between overt demographic differences among employees and the less obvious, but important, attitudinal differences among them is weaker than has been assumed. By integrating theory and research from management, psychology, and sociology, we further distinguish between these levels of heterogeneity. We argue that as work group members continue to interact with one another, dissimilarity in the typically studied surface-level dimensions such as sex and age becomes less important than deep-level attitudinal dissimilarity in, for instance, job satisfaction or organizational commitment. That is, time moderates the relative impact of overt versus underlying diversity among work group members.
DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY
Underlying Premises and Assumptions
The premise that differences among group members have a negative impact on group...