Demographic diversity, conflict, and work group outcomes: An intervening process theory

This paper presents one of the few but growing number of models that open up the black box frequently proposed by organizational demography theories. Pelled examines the processes by which work group diversity predicts individual and group outcomes. The model is particularly interesting because in contrast to typical demographic models that only distinguish "more" from "less" diversity, it suggests that turnover and cognitive task performance (the outcomes) are conditional on both the types of diversity represented in the group (the demographic predictors), and the types of conflict experienced by the group (the intervening processes).