The influence of demographic heterogeneity on the emergence and consequences of cooperative norms in work teams

Drawing from social categorization theory, we found that greater demographi c heterogeneity led to group norms emphasizing lower cooperation among stud ent teams and officers from ten business units of a financial services firm . This effect faded over time. Perceptions of team norms among those more d emographically different from their work group changed more, becoming more cooperative, as a function of contact with other members. Finally, cooperat ive norms mediated the relationship between group composition and work outc omes.