Using Self-Categorization Theory to Understand Relational Demography–Based Variations in People's Responsiveness to Organizational Culture

We investigated how demographic differences affected people's responses to organizational cues to cooperate with their coworkers. Officers from a large financial services firm who were more demographically different from their coworkers behaved more cooperatively when their business unit emphasized collectivistic rather than individualistic cultural values. Our results imply that understanding and managing cooperative behavior requires considering the interplay between relational demography and organizational culture.