Diversity, Team Mechanisms, and Performance: A Meta-Analytical Test of an Opposing Path Model

Kristina Reineke (), Holger Steinmetz () and Rodrigo Isidor ()
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Kristina Reineke: University of Paderborn
Holger Steinmetz: Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information
Rodrigo Isidor: University of Bayreuth

No 61, Working Papers Dissertations from Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics

Abstract: Organizations become increasingly diverse and especially the diversity of work teams has gained a strong interest in science and public discussions. Although various studies and meta-analyses have investigated the impact of team diversity on performance, they mostly find weak or non-significant relationships. We propose and test whether the inconclusive empirical results originate in the simultaneous effects of two counteracting team mechanisms. Using a sample of 218 studies, we examine via meta-analytical structural equation modelling (MASEM) whether the effects of three bio-demographic diversity dimensions (i.e., gender, age, ethnicity) and three task-related diversity dimensions (i.e., functional, educational, experiential diversity) on subjective and objective performance are simultaneously mediated via social categorization and information elaboration. In doing so, we consider positive and negative effects of diversity at the same time. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found a weak negative relationship between ethnic diversity and information elaboration. None of the other diversity dimensions had a significant effect on either of the mediators and, thus, on performance. Subsequent bivariate meta-analysis in addition to moderator analyses failed to provide evidence about context specific relationships between diversity and its presumed consequences.

Keywords: team diversity; social categorization; information elaboration; performance; meta-analysis; structural equation modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L25 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 80
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen
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