Jennifer Chatman

The Influence of Demographic Heterogeneity on the Emergence and Consequences of Cooperative Norms in Work Teams

Coauthor(s): Francis Flynn.

Abstract:
Drawing from social categorization theory, the authors found that greater demographic heterogeneity led to group norms emphasizing lower cooperation among student teams and officers from ten business units of a financial services firm. This effect faded over time. Perceptions of team norms among those more demographically different from their work group changed more, becoming more cooperative, as a function of contact with other members. Finally, cooperative norms mediated the relationship between group composition and work outcomes.

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