Cultural mosaic beliefs as a new measure of the psychological climate for diversity: Individual distinctiveness and synergy in culturally diverse teams

Pylin Chuapetcharasopon, Lukas Neville, Wendi L Adair, Susan E Brodt, Terri R Lituchy, & Aimy A Racine. (2017). Cultural mosaic beliefs as a new measure of the psychological climate for diversity: Individual distinctiveness and synergy in culturally diverse teams. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 1470595817745898. © The Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595817745898This article introduces the concept of cultural mosaic beliefs (CMBs) as a component of effective multicultural work groups. Building on theories of group diversity and self-verification, and responding to calls to understand moderators that explain the impact of group diversity on performance outcomes, we conceptualize CMBs as a psychological climate that individual group members perceive to promote the recognition, acceptance and expression, and utilization of cultural diversity (values, traditions, and practices) in their work. We also propose that CMBs might attenuate conflict that can sometimes characterize culturally diverse work groups distinguishing groups that falter from those that flourish and benefit from the informational and other potential advantages associated with their diverse cultural composition. In a series of five studies (N = 1119), we develop a 17-item CMB scale comprised of three factors: perceived group diversity, cultural acceptance and expression, and culture utilization. We present evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, showing that the CMB scale is related to but distinct from other measures of diversity. We also demonstrate predictive validity, showing that the CMB scale is related to work group members’ identification with the group, commitment to the group, satisfaction with the group, and learning from the group. We conclude by proposing applications of our CMBs concept and measure to multicultural workplaces and offer future directions for research on cultural diversity, specifically the study of group CMBs as a moderator of cultural diversity’s effects on groups.Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada [SSHRC 400102

Cultural Influences in Negotiations: A Four Country Comparitive Analysis

Empirical work systematically comparing variations across a range of countries is scarce. A comprehensive framework having the potential to yield comparable information across countries on 12 negotiating tendencies was proposed more than 20 years ago by Weiss and Stripp; however, the framework was never operationalized or empirically tested. A review of the negotiation and cross cultural research that have accumulated over the last two decades led to refinements in the definition of the dimensions in the framework. We operationalized four dimensions in the Negotiation Orientations Framework and developed the Negotiation Orientations Inventory (NOI) to assess individual orientations on those four dimensions. Data were collected from a sample of 1000 business people and university students with business experience from Finland, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States. Results are presented and further scale development is discussed. Findings establish the utility of the dimensions in the framework in making comparisons between the four countries