HOW DO MEMBERS OF GROUPS DIVERSE ON MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS CONCEPTUALIZE ONE ANOTHER? SOCIAL CONTEXTUAL TRIGGERS AND WORK GROUP CONFLICT IMPLICATIONS OF IDENTITY SALIENCE.

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which the social context of a work group affects the salience of occupational, race, and gender identities and examines the implications of identity salience for work group conflict. This research questions a frequently-made assumption that the dimensions on which a work group is heterogeneous are necessarily salient to group members and affect their social interaction and performance. In a study that examined work groups heterogeneous on occupation, race, and gender in seven high-technology and consulting organizations, group composition imbalances were found to affect gender salience for men respondents, gender salience was found to be associated with relationship conflict for men respondents, and race and occupational identities became less salient for whites and those in technical occupations respectively as the number of subgroups across identity categories increased. Implications for research and practice of considering the psychological significance of heterogeneity through consideration of identity salience are discussed.