On 11 Mar 2013, at 16:02, Dan Harkins <dharkins(_at_)lounge(_dot_)org> wrote:
- It is a well-established fact that diverse groups are smarter
and make better decisions than less-diverse groups.
I would really like to see this statement either backed up by
peer-reviewed apolitical scientific research or withdrawn by the
signatories of the open letter. It is highly offensive.
I'm in no way an expect in any of this, but I've heard it said (in other
contexts than this discussion) that diversity increases the quality of decision
making in groups. Your message piqued my interest as to whether there is valid
evidence for whether this was actually the case or not.
To cut a long story short, after a bit of investigation, I'd have to say that
current scientific thought definitely leans towards this in fact being the case.
A selection of references that seem to appear quite often in the various bits
of literature I've had a browse around for anyone who is interested:
Jackson, S. E. May, K. E. & Whitney, K. (1995) Understanding the Dynamics of
diversity in decision
making teams in R.A. Guzzo et al, (1995) Team effectiveness and decision making
in organisations:
San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.
Johnson, W. B. & Packer, A. E. (1987) Workforce 2000, Work and workers for the
21st century:
Washington DC: Department of Labour12.
Krause, S., James, R., Faria, J. J., Ruxton, G. D. and Krause, J., 2011. Swarm
intelligence in humans: diversity can trump ability. Animal Behaviour, 81 (5),
pp. 941-948.
Lumby, J. (2006) Conceptualizing diversity and leadership: evidence from ten
cases: Educational
management and administration, Vol. 34, (2), 151-165.
Phillips, Katherine W., Katie A. Liljenquist and Margaret A. Neale. 2009. Is
the pain worth the gain? The advantages and liabilities of agreeing with
socially distinct newcomers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 35:
336-350.
Mohammed, S., Ringseis, E., Cognitive Diversity and Consensus in Group Decision
Making: The Role of Inputs, Processes, and Outcomes, Organizational Behavior
and Human Decision Processes, Volume 85, Issue 2, July 2001, Pages 310-335,
Sommers, S.R. ( 2006). On racial diversity and group decision making:
Identifying multiple effects of racial composition on jury deliberations.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 597-612.
Watson, W. E. & Kumar, K. & Michaelsen, L. K.(1993) Cultural Diversity impact
on interaction
process and performance: Comparing homogenous and diverse task groups, Academy
of
management Journal, 36, 590-602.
Best,
Rhys.
--
Dr Rhys Smith
Identity, Access, and Middleware Specialist
Cardiff University & Janet - the UK's research and education network
email: smith(_at_)cardiff(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk / rhys(_dot_)smith(_at_)ja(_dot_)net
GPG: 0xDE2F024C