A relational demography model of respect

Zoom link: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/85894158193

Abstract:

Respect in diverse teams is critical because it indicates the extent to which the range of information available in such teams is attended to, processed, and integrated. We investigate how being demographically dissimilar affects individual behaviors undertaken to strive for respect and how these behaviors are evaluated by workplace teammates, integrating the stereotype content model with relational demography and its underlying social identity theory. Based on multi-wave, multi- source data from a sample of 743 teachers from 125 kindergarten teacher teams in 45 kindergartens, we investigate the differential impact of a salient dimension of demographic dissimilarity in this context, education dissimilarity, on the respect seeking behaviors of higher- (more educated) versus lower-status demographic category (less educated) members of teacher teams. We find that a lower (higher) level of demographic dissimilarity for higher (lower)-status category members contributes to higher levels of self-monitoring on competence and self- monitoring on warmth, especially when they perceive the status hierarchy to be permeable.

Moreover, self-monitoring on competence contributes to the respect granted to higher-status category members; self-monitoring on warmth contributes to the respect granted to lower-status category members. Our results support the notion that the respect earned by dissimilar members of diverse teams depends on how they behave and how these behaviors are evaluated by their teammates; team composition, status hierarchy, and individual demographic status jointly affect the process of earning respect.

Speaker:

Prithviraj Chattopadhyay is a professor of management at the University of Auckland. He holds a PhD in Management from the University of Texas at Austin. His research on relational demography and diversity, managerial cognition, and employment externalization has been published in journals such as Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organization Science and Strategic Management Journal. He was an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Journal (2016-2019) and is a currently a member of the editorial boards of Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Journal of Strategy and Management and Organizational Psychology Review.