Cognitive Style Diversity in Decision Making Teams: A Conceptual Framework

Authors

  • Abby Mello Towson University
  • Joan Rentsch University of Tennessee

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/ijbsr.v4i4.487

Keywords:

Teams, Cognitive Diversity, Cognitive Style, Perspective Taking, Team Processes

Abstract

Team diversity scholars have called for examining cognitive variables (van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007), such as cognitive style, in team dissimilarity research. However, due to the dearth of research on cognitive style diversity in teams, heeding these calls requires new theory. Therefore, we extended recent theoretical developments that suggested indirect relationships between diversity and performance by orienting cognitive style within the team diversity literature and by proposing cognitive style diversity’s effects on team processes in decision making teams. We also integrated the moderating role of team member perspective taking into the framework. We presented arguments and propositions for the combined effects of cognitive style diversity and perspective taking on task conflict, affective conflict, and the development of schema congruence. We offer suggestions for testing the proposed relationships in future research regarding variable measurement and multi-level data. Implications for and contributions to practice are also addressed.

Author Biographies

  • Abby Mello, Towson University

    Psychology Department

    Assistant Professor

  • Joan Rentsch, University of Tennessee

    Communications Department

    Professor

References

Allinson, C. W., & Hayes, J. (1996). The cognitive style index: A measure of intuition-analysis for organizational research. Journal of Management Studies, 33(1), 119-135.

Allinson, C. W., Armstrong, S. J., & Hayes, J. (2001). The effects of cognitive style on leader-member exchange: A study of manager-subordinate dyads. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74, 201-220.

Armstrong, S. J., & Priola, V. (2001). Individual differences in cognitive style and their effects on task and social orientations of self-managed work teams. Small Group Research, 32(3), 283-312.

Basadur, M.S., & Head, M.M. (2001). Team performance and satisfaction: A link to cognitive style within a process framework. Journal of Creative Behavior, 35(3), 1-22.

Bunderson, J. S. & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2002). Comparing alternative conceptualizations of functional diversity in management teams: Process and performance effects. Academy of Management Journal. 45(5), 875-893.

Chan, D. (1996). Cognitive misfit of problem-solving style at work: A facet of person-organization fit. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 68(3), 194-207.

Chan, D. (1998). Functional relations among constructs in the same content domain at different levels of analysis: A typology of composition models. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2), 234-246.

Chan, D. (2009). So why ask me? Are self report data really that bad? In C E. Lance and R. J. Vandenberg (Eds.), Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends: Doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences (pp. 309-335). New York, NY: Routledge.

Clark, M. A., Anand, V., & Roberson, L. (2000). Resolving meaning: Interpretation in diverse decision-making groups. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 4(3), 211-221.

Cronin, M. A. & Weingart, L. R. (2007). Representational gaps, information processing, and conflict in functionally diverse teams. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 761-773.

Curry, L. (1983) An organization of learning styles theory and constructs. ERIC Document 235 185.

Dahlin, K. B., Weingart, L. R., & Hinds, P. J. (2005). Team diversity and information use. Academy of Management Journal. 48(6), 1107-1123.

Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126.

De Dreu, C. K. W. & Weingart, L. R. (2003). Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 741-749.

De Dreu, C. K. W., & West, M. A. (2001). Minority dissent and team innovation: The importance of participation in decision making. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 1191–1201.

de Wit, F. R. C., Greer, L. L., & Jehn, K. A. (2012). The paradox of intragroup conflict: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(2), 360-390.

DeChurch, L. A, & Mesmer-Magnus, J. R. (2010). Measuring shared team mental models: A meta-analysis. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 14(1), 1-14.

Dose, J. J. & Klimoski, R. J. (1999). The diversity of diversity: work values effects on formative team processes. Human Resource Management Review, 9(1), 83-108.

Edwards, B. D., Day, E. A., Arthur, W., & Bell, S. T. (2006). Relationships among team ability composition, team mental models, and team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(3), 727-736.

Falk, D. R., & Johnson, D. W. (1977). The effects of perspective-taking and egocentrism on problem solving in heterogeneous and homogenous groups. The Journal of Social Psychology, 102, 63-72.

Gebert, D., Boerner, S., & Kearney, E. (2006). Cross-functionality and innovation in new product development teams: A dilemmatic structure and its consequences for the management of diversity. European Journal or Work and Organizational Psychology, 15(4), 431-458.

Harrison, D. A., & Klein, K. J. (2007). What’s the difference? Diversity constructs as separation, variety, or disparity in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1199-1228.

Henderson, J. C. & Nutt, P. C. (1980). The influence of decision style on decision making behavior. Management Science, 26(4), 371-386.

Hoever, I. J., van Knippenberg, D., van Ginkel, W. P., & Barkema, H. G. (2012). Fostering team creativity: Perspective taking as key to unlocking diversity's potential. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(5), 982-996.

Horwitz, S. K., & Horwitz, I. B. (2007). The effects of team diversity on team outcomes: A meta-analytic review of team demography. Journal of Management. 33(6), 987-1015.

Hough, J. R., & dt ogilvie. (2005). An empirical test of cognitive style and strategic decision outcomes. Journal of Management Studies, 42(2), 417-448.

Jehn, K. A. (1995). A Multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 40, 256-282.

Jehn, K. A. (1997). A qualitative analysis of conflict types and dimensions in organizational groups. Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 42, 530-557.

Jehn, K. A., Northcraft, G. B., & Neale, M. A. (1999). Why differences make a difference: A field study of diversity, conflict, and performance in workgroups. Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 44, 741-763.

Johnson, D. W. (1977). The distribution and exchange of information in problem-solving dyads. Communication Research, 4(3), 283-298.

Kemp, K. E., & Smith, W. P. (1994). Information exchange, toughness, and integrative bargaining: The roles of explicit cues and perspective-taking. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 5(1), 5-21.

Kickul, J., Gundry, L. K., Barbosa, S. D., & Whitcanack, L. (2009). Intuitition versus analysis? Testing differential models of cognitive style on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and new venture creation process. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 33(2), 439-453.

Kirton, M. (1976). Adaptors and Innovators: A description and measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 61(5), 622-629.

Kozhevnikov, M. (2007). Cognitive styles in the context of modern psychology: Toward an integrated framework of cognitive style. Psychological Bulletin, 133(3), 464-481.

Lambert, A. J, Payne, B. K., Jacoby, L. L., Shaffer, L. M., Chasteen, A. L. & Khan, S. R. (2003). Stereotypes as dominant responses: On the “social facilitation” of prejudice in anticipated public contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 277-295.

Leonard, N. H., Scholl, R. W., & Kowalski, K. B. (1999). Information processing style and decision making. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 407-420.

Mathieu, J. E., Heffner, T. S., Goodwin, G. F., Cannon-Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (2005). Scaling the quality of teammates’ mental models: Equifinality and normative comparisons. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 37–56.

Mathieu, J. E., Heffner, T. S., Goodwin, G. F., Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. (2000). The influence of shared mental models on team process and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 273–283.

Milliken, F. J., & Martins, L. L. (1996). Searching for the common threads: Understanding the multiple effects of diversity in organizational groups. Academy of Management Review, 21(2), 402-433.

Mohammed, S., & Ringseis, E. (2001). Cognitive diversity and consensus in group decision making: The role of inputs, processes, and outcomes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 85(2), 310-335.

Park, H. S. & Raile, A. N. W. (2010). Perspective taking and communication satisfaction in coworker dyads. Journal of Business Psychology, 25, 569-581.

Pelled, L. H. (1996). Demographic diversity, conflict, and work group outcomes: An intervening process theory. Organization Science, 7(6), 615-631.

Pelled, L. H., Eisenhardt, K. M., & Xin, K. R. (1999). Exploring the black box: An analysis of work group diversity, conflict, and performance. Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 44, 1-28.

Priola, V., Smith, J. L., & Armstrong, S. J. (2004). Group work and cognitive style: A discursive investigation. Small Group Research, 35(5), 565-595.

Rayner, S. & Riding, R. (1997). Towards a categorisation of cognitive styles and learning styles. Educational Psychology, 17(1/2), 5-30.

Reimer, T. (2001). Attributions for poor group performance as a predictor of perspective-taking and subsequent group achievement: A process model. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 4(1), 31-47.

Rentsch, J. R. & Hall, R. J. (1994). Members of great teams think alike: A model of team effectiveness and schema similarity among team members. In Beyerlein, M. M. & Johnson, D. A. (Eds). Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams: Theories of Self-Managing Work Teams, Vol. 1. (pp. 223-261). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Rentsch, J. R., Delise, L.A. & Hutchison, S. (2010). Cognitive similarity configurations in teams: In search of the team MindMeld. In E. Salas, G. F. Goodwin, and C. S. Burke (Eds.).

Rentsch, J. R. & Klimoski, R. J. (2001). Why do ‘great minds’ think alike?: Antecedents of team member schema agreement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 107-120.

Rentsch, J. R., Small, E. E. & Hanges, P. J. (2008). Cognitions in organizations and teams: What is the meaning of cognitive similarity? In D. B. Smith (Ed.). The people make the place: Dynamic linkages between individuals and organizations. (pp. 127-156) .NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Rizkalla, L., Wertheim, E. H., & Hodgson, L. K. (2008). The roles of emotion management and perspective taking in individuals’ conflict management styles and disposition to forgive. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1594-1601.

Ruble, T. L., & Cosier, R. A. (1990). Effects of cognitive styles and decision setting on performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 46, 283-295.

Scott, S. G., & Bruce, R. A. (1995). Decision-making style: The development of a new measure. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 55(5), 818-831.

Sessa, V. I. (1996). Using perspective taking to manage conflict and affect in teams. Journal of Behavioral Science, 32(1) 101-115.

Tepper, B. J., Tetrault, L. A., Braun, C. K., & Romero, J. E. (1993). Discriminant and convergent validity of the problem solving style questionnaire. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 437-444.

van Knippenberg, D. & Schippers, M. C. (2007). Work group diversity. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 515-541.

Vance, C. M., Groves, K. S., Paik, Y., & Kindler, H. (2007). Understanding and measuring linear-nonlinear thinking style for enhanced management education and professional practice. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 6(2), 167-185.

Volkema, R. J. & Gorman, R. H. (1998). The influence of cognitive-based group composition on decision-making process and outcome. Journal of Management Studies, 35(1), 105-121.

Webber, S. S., & Donahue, L. M. (2001). Impact of highly and less job-related diversity on work group cohesion and performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Management. 27(2), 141-162.

West, G. P. (2007). Collective cognition: When entrepreneurial teams, not individuals, make decisions. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 31(1), 77-102.

Williams, K. Y., & O’Reilly, C. A. (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations. In B. M. Staw & R. M. Sutton (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior: Vol. 20, pp. 77-140. Stamford, CT: JAI.

Wu, S. & Keysar, B. (2007). The effect of culture on perspective taking. Psychological Science, 18(7), 600-606.

Zellmer-Bruhn, M. E., Maloney, M. M., Dhappu, A. D., & Salvador, R. (2008). When and how do differences matter? An exploration of perceived similarity in teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 107, 41-59.

Downloads

Published

2014-04-24

Issue

Section

Article

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>