Affective Responses to Professional Dissimilarity: A Matter of Status

Abstract

We argue that, when status differences between lower- and higher-status team members are well established, intergroup relations are driven by status competition among higher-status team members and collaboration among lower-status team members. Supporting these arguments, we found that higher-status team members facing higher levels of professional dissimilarity (i.e., working with higher proportions of lower-status team members) reported fewer instances in which colleagues accused them of incompetence or breached norms of professional conduct; the latter resulted in lower levels of negative emotions and negative behaviors. Lower-status team members reported higher levels of these outcomes when working with higher proportions of higher-status team members.