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Fuse or fracture? Threat as a moderator of the effects of diversity faultlines in teams.
J Appl Psychol. 2017 Sep; 102(9):1344-1359.JA

Abstract

While faultlines theory has received quite a bit of attention in the literature, there has been some inconsistency in findings regarding identity and information faultlines. Namely, identity faultlines do not always result in harmful social categorizations and information faultlines do not always increase information-processing capabilities. However, according to the categorization-elaboration model (CEM; van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004), any category of diversity can result in categorization processes and intergroup bias. One key to understanding faultlines, therefore, lies in context-specific predictions. Building on this idea, we apply the CEM as an explanatory framework and examine threat as a contextual moderator of identity and information faultlines. We propose that threat mitigates the negative effects of activated identity faultlines on team creativity: an effect mediated by team psychological safety. In contrast, we propose that threat aggravates the negative effects of information faultlines on team decision-making: an effect mediated by status conflict. We test our hypotheses with 2 experiments and 184 teams, finding support for our predictions regarding identity faultlines and partial support for our predictions regarding information faultlines. Taken together, this study demonstrates the utility of the CEM for faultlines research, identifies an important boundary condition of the effects of identity and information faultlines, and challenges the notion that threat is always "bad" for teams. (PsycINFO Database Record

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Spoelma TM
Department of Management and Organizations, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona.
Ellis APJ
Department of Management and Organizations, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona.

MeSH

AdultCooperative BehaviorCreativityDecision MakingFemaleGroup ProcessesHumansMaleYoung Adult

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

28447831

Citation

Spoelma, Trevor M., and Aleksander P J. Ellis. "Fuse or Fracture? Threat as a Moderator of the Effects of Diversity Faultlines in Teams." The Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 102, no. 9, 2017, pp. 1344-1359.
Spoelma TM, Ellis APJ. Fuse or fracture? Threat as a moderator of the effects of diversity faultlines in teams. J Appl Psychol. 2017;102(9):1344-1359.
Spoelma, T. M., & Ellis, A. P. J. (2017). Fuse or fracture? Threat as a moderator of the effects of diversity faultlines in teams. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(9), 1344-1359. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000231
Spoelma TM, Ellis APJ. Fuse or Fracture? Threat as a Moderator of the Effects of Diversity Faultlines in Teams. J Appl Psychol. 2017;102(9):1344-1359. PubMed PMID: 28447831.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Fuse or fracture? Threat as a moderator of the effects of diversity faultlines in teams. AU - Spoelma,Trevor M, AU - Ellis,Aleksander P J, Y1 - 2017/04/27/ PY - 2017/4/28/pubmed PY - 2018/5/4/medline PY - 2017/4/28/entrez SP - 1344 EP - 1359 JF - The Journal of applied psychology JO - J Appl Psychol VL - 102 IS - 9 N2 - While faultlines theory has received quite a bit of attention in the literature, there has been some inconsistency in findings regarding identity and information faultlines. Namely, identity faultlines do not always result in harmful social categorizations and information faultlines do not always increase information-processing capabilities. However, according to the categorization-elaboration model (CEM; van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004), any category of diversity can result in categorization processes and intergroup bias. One key to understanding faultlines, therefore, lies in context-specific predictions. Building on this idea, we apply the CEM as an explanatory framework and examine threat as a contextual moderator of identity and information faultlines. We propose that threat mitigates the negative effects of activated identity faultlines on team creativity: an effect mediated by team psychological safety. In contrast, we propose that threat aggravates the negative effects of information faultlines on team decision-making: an effect mediated by status conflict. We test our hypotheses with 2 experiments and 184 teams, finding support for our predictions regarding identity faultlines and partial support for our predictions regarding information faultlines. Taken together, this study demonstrates the utility of the CEM for faultlines research, identifies an important boundary condition of the effects of identity and information faultlines, and challenges the notion that threat is always "bad" for teams. (PsycINFO Database Record SN - 1939-1854 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/28447831/Fuse_or_fracture_Threat_as_a_moderator_of_the_effects_of_diversity_faultlines_in_teams_ L2 - http://content.apa.org/journals/apl/102/9/1344 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -