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Ethnic Composition and its Differential Impact on Group Processes in Diverse Teams

University of California, Berkeley, paletz{at}socrates.berkeley.edu

Kaiping Peng

University of California, Berkeley

Miriam Erez

Technion University, Israel

Christina Maslach

University of California, Berkeley

This study contrasts the effects of two types of ethnically heterogeneous groups on their enjoyment of and performance on an interactive creative task. The majority of each group was composed of either ethnic minorities or Caucasians. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling where appropriate. Teams composed mostly of ethnic minorities rated working with the group to be more enjoyable and reported experiencing more positive and fewer negative emotions. Ethnic composition was not predictive of task creativity. Both individual ethnicity and the interaction between individual ethnicity and ethnic composition had an effect on negative emotions; these effects were independent of the group-level effect. Issues concerning ethnic diversity, group dynamics, and context effects are discussed.

Key Words: ethnic composition • small group dynamics • group enjoyment

Small Group Research, Vol. 35, No. 2, 128-157 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496403258793


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