Eden B. King - US grants

Diversity within American society - and the teams that work within it - is a reality. The question, then, is how to leverage team diversity toward team goals. Common wisdom behind the "business case for diversity" purports that diversity is a resource that enhances team success. Social science findings, however, suggest that diversity can instead yield stifled and conflictual team process that undermines team outcomes. These detrimental effects are pronounced when diverse attributes align in meaningful ways; like cracks in the surface of the earth, subgroup divisions - faultlines - can emerge that restrain performance. The emergent problem is how to prevent and overcome the fractured behavioral dynamics of faultlines to allow team diversity to be effectively leveraged toward effective performance.

The goal of this set of studies is to explore the conditions under which diversity facilitates rather than hinders team performance. It is anticipated that the promise of diversity can be achieved (and pitfalls avoided) in conditions under which dysfunctional, fractured behavioral patterns are prevented. Drawing from theories that explain the challenges and opportunities of team diversity, the current studies explore three conditions that may enable the benefits of diversity: high levels of team identification, pro-diversity values, and social connectedness. Overall, this work will shape scholarly discourse and organizational practice regarding when and how members' diverse characteristics can facilitate team performance.

Intellectual Merit: This work will meaningfully contribute to organizational science by identifying factors that inhibit and facilitate quality performance in diverse teams. It will shift the simplistic lens of diversity as a unidimensional feature of teams toward an approach that emphasizes the complex behavioral patterns that can emerge when team members' characteristics coincide. To do this, the current studies will examine diversity from a more multidimensional viewpoint: team faultlines. In addition, the studies will use the newly available technology of sociometric sensors to examine how diversity faultlines manifest themselves in subtle ways in the social interactions of team members. This will allow the current researchers to: (1) address equivocal findings about the effects of team diversity, (2) challenge the dominant assumption that faultlines necessarily exist when demographic categories align, (3) explore the complex behavioral manifestations generated by faultlines, and finally (4) examine conditions under which the effects of faultlines can be attenuated. These advancements will shape scholarly understanding about the ways in which team diversity can positively and negatively impact performance.

Broader Impacts: This research will have broad-reaching impact on both science and society. Indeed, the theoretical bases and empirical findings of this research will provide a unique explanation for previous equivocal conclusions about team diversity. Moreover, this research will transform the way scholars approach team diversity by focusing on the particular patterns of behavior that constrain performance. Indeed, the unique methodological approach, which brings the power of "bigger data" from sociometric sensors to the study of team dynamics, will spur new insights and research paradigms. The broader impacts further extend to individuals, organizations, and society. Individuals may gain new insights into interpersonal dynamics and the subtle behavioral patterns that reinforce intergroup biases. This work will also identify (and empirically assess in experimental and field contexts) moderating conditions that organizations can shape to maximize the potential of workforce diversity. Ultimately, the simultaneous proliferation of team-based organizational systems and demographic diversity yields the potential for exceptional team outcomes. The findings of this work are thus timely and instructive for enhancing team effectiveness and resolving faultlines in the many contexts where diverse teams work toward shared goals.