Expertise recognition in multi-cultural groups

This research explores expertise recognition and communication, and their effects on performance and socio-emotional experiences of multi-cultural groups. Specifically, I investigate (a) how multi-cultural group members form judgments about each other's expertise, (b) how inaccurate assumptions of expertise affect various group outcomes, and (c) how communication moderates the negative effects of inaccurate judgments.; To examine these research questions, I conducted two studies: one in a laboratory setting and the other in a field setting. The laboratory study tested the effect of cultural stereotypes and communication on expertise recognition, group performance, and socio-emotional experience in newly formed groups. In the laboratory experiment, one hundred and four white and Asian undergraduate students performed a word memory task in pairs via instant messenger. The field study examined the basis of expertise judgments, perceptions of expertise recognition, task assignment methods, and flexibility of expertise judgments, and the effects of these factors on socio-emotional experiences of real-life work groups. In this field study, eighty four MBA students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reported their multi-cultural group experiences in class projects.; The results from the two studies revealed that (a) cultural stereotypes negatively affect expertise recognition, task assignments, and socio-emotional experiences, when the cultural stereotypes are not consistent with group members' actual knowledge, (b) accurate recognition of group members' expertise and communication positively affects their socio-emotional experience, (c) flexibility of multi-cultural group members' judgments about each other's expertise enhances the overall quality of their socio-emotional experiences. Drawn from these results, implications and future research directions are discussed.