When And How Diversity Benefits Teams: The Importance Of Team Members' Need For Cognition

In a study of 83 teams from eight organizations, we examined team need for cognition -- the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors -- as a moderator of the relationships between both age diversity and educational specialization diversity, and elaboration of task-relevant infor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Academy of Management journal 2009-06, Vol.52 (3), p.581-598
Main Authors: Kearney, Eric, Gebert, Diether, Voelpel, Sven C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business management
Business studies
Cognition & reasoning
Correlation analysis
Firm theory
Group dynamics
Group performance
Job performance
Level of education
Management science
Studies
Teams
Teamwork
Workplace diversity
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Summary:In a study of 83 teams from eight organizations, we examined team need for cognition -- the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors -- as a moderator of the relationships between both age diversity and educational specialization diversity, and elaboration of task-relevant information, collective team identification and, ultimately, team performance. Age and educational diversity were positively related to these outcomes when team need for cognition was high, rather than low. Both the elaboration of task-relevant information and collective team identification mediated a moderating effect of need for cognition on the relationship between both types of diversity and team performance. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0001-4273
1948-0989
DOI:10.5465/AMJ.2009.41331431