“Can't Stand Ya!” The Effect of Team Political Diversity on Team Performance

Abstract

As the political context in which organizations operate continues to change, organizations face growing challenges in managing politically diverse teams. Yet, empirical evidence remains limited on how politically dissimilar employees working interdependently affect team functioning. Drawing from the political affiliation model and the categorization-elaboration model, we hypothesize that political diversity is associated with higher relationship conflict, which in turn relates to lower team performance. We further propose that a team diversity climate helps buffer these negative effects. Using a time-lagged, multisource field study of 372 employees within 70 teams in South Korea, we find general support for these hypotheses. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, particularly in terms of how organizations can adapt to and effectively manage politically diverse teams in an era of accelerating sociopolitical change.