The Effect of Ethnic Dissimilarity on Creativity and Conflict
Leiden University
Name: Shailja Kanwar Student Number: S1363786
Capstone Supervisor: Dr. T.S. Ashikali Second Reader: Dr. J. van der Voet
Master: Public Administration (Public Management) Date: 18/07/2019
Table of Contents
The Effect of Ethnic Dissimilarity on Creativity and Conflict ... 1
1. Introduction ... 3 1.1 Societal Relevance ... 6 1.2 Academic Relevance ... 7 1.3 Reading Guide ... 9 2. Theoretical Framework ... 10 2.1 Perception ... 10
2.2 Ethnic Dissimilarity and Diversity ... 10
2.4 Ethnic Dissimilarity and Conflict ... 13
2.5 Role of Inclusion ... 18
2.6 Theoretical Model ... 21
3. Research Method ... 22
3.1 Data and Sample ... 22
3.2 Method ... 23 3.3 Measurements ... 24 3.3.1 Independent Variables ... 25 3.2 Dependent Variables ... 25 3.3.3 Moderating Variable ... 27 3.3.4 Control Variables ... 27 4. Research Findings ... 30 4.1 Descriptive Statistics ... 30 4.2 Correlations ... 31 4.3 Regression Models ... 32
4.3.1 Regression Model Perceived Creativity ... 32
4.3.2 Regression Model Perceived Conflict ... 35
5. Discussion and Implications ... 40
5.1 Creativity and Conflict ... 40
5.2 General Trends ... 43
5.3 Practical Implications ... 43
5.4 Limitations ... 44
6. References ... 49
Online Resources ... 59
7. Appendix ... 61
A: Survey Questions ... 61
B: Internal Validity of Survey Questions ... 64
Perceived Creativity ... 64
Perceived Conflict ... 66
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity ... 67
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1. Introduction
Studies done in the field of public management have pointed out that diversity is necessary in organizations because it implies democracy, citizenship, inclusion, equal opportunity and equality. Moreover, understanding diversity is crucial in the public sector because ignorance towards it can lead to development of discriminatory practices against minority groups. In addition, discrimination in practice and policy can lead to limited opportunities for “upward mobility” being available to minorities (Clark, Ochs & Frazier, 2013, p.77).
The belief that increasing diversity among employees in an organization leads to increased organizational performance is prevalent (Strauss, 2018). Similarly, at a team level diversity has been shown to improve performance as individuals bring different perspectives to the table. This results in an increase in adaptability, creativity, innovation, problem solving and subsequently performance (Groschl, 2011, pp.31). Research in the field of innovation management has shown that the presence of various ethnicities in a unit can lead to more creativity (Bouncken, 2015). This is because people from different places provide with new ideas and perspectives (Bouncken, 2015).
The U.S Office of Personnel Management mentions that one of the most important reasons for making public organizations more diverse and inclusive is that it will improve the quality of the workforce. Ample of the government's budget goes to human resources in the form investments like salaries, development and recruitment of employees. To get a healthy return on such investments government agencies must encourage recruitment of the best and the brightest talent (OPM, 2019). This is only possible when government/public agencies reach out openly to all communities where such talent is present.
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In 2016, it was found that the public administration of the Netherlands has only 8% of non-native Dutch (westerners) and 5% non-non-native Dutch (non-westerners) as appointed employees. For education and science the percentage for native Dutch westerners is up by 4% and for non-native non-Dutch by only 2% (Ashikali, 2018, p.28). In Belgium, the situation is similar. It was noted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) that the percentage of non-western immigrants in the public sector was 9.4 percent in 2014 (Celik, 2016, p.36). This indicates that minorities are still underrepresented.
As mentioned earlier diversity is seen to improve performance as people bring different perspectives to the table (Groschl, 2011). At the same time presence of many ethnicities can lead to conflict as people think differently from one another (Hobman et al., 2006). Apart from the representation of minorities mentioned above when it comes to organizational processes, three key constructs play a key role. These aspects are involvement in the workgroup, participation in decision making and access to information and resources. These three constructs largely influence the inclusion-exclusion perception of employees (Mor-Barak and Cherin, 1998, p.52). Employee who do not have adequate access to the three organizational processes and feel like the organization does not accommodate their desire to belong can affect organizational outcomes (Mor-Barak, 1999, p.57). At the same time, at an individual level it can lead to a decrease in creativity and an increase in conflict among employees. This is due to minority employees finding the organizational processes unfair and decreased capacity for creativity (Huo et al. 2004, p.252; Omisore and Abiodun, 2014, p.121)
The outcomes of diversity are dependent on contextual variables like participation, information elaboration and interdependence. One such contextual variables is inclusion
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(Guillaume et al. 2017; Joshi & Roh 2009). Conflict is moderated by inclusion (Joshi & Roh, 2009).
Wright & Nishii (2007) mention there is a difference between what actually is and what it is perceived like. Moreover, it is the perception that employees have which influences the behavior of the employees (Wright & Nishii, 2007, p.15). It is not the reality that people react to but it is the perception of that reality that influences people (Shemla et al., 2014). Shemla et al. 2014, mention that people may perceive the objective differences differently. This might lead to individuals having different perceptions about the differences and therefore influencing the dynamics between people differently (Shemla et al., 2014). Employees’ perception of diversity is thus the focal point of interest in this research.
Thus, I am going to ask:
What is the effect of perceived ethnic dissimilarity on perceived creativity and conflict of public sector employees in the Netherlands and Belgium, and what is the role of inclusion?
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1.1 Societal Relevance
As mentioned by Cox (1999) the cost of managing a diverse workforce is high because organizations are not yet successful in managing gender diversity as well as ethical and racial diversity (p.46). The satisfaction level of minorities in an organization is low because of dissatisfaction with the overall opportunities for career advancement. According to Cox (1999) one other reason for low satisfaction among minorities is the cultural conflict among the employees.
Preference for a certain ethnicity in public organizations can lead to missing out on highly qualified employees. Which can further lead to lower organizational performance as compared with a situation in which the best suitable employees are selected regardless of their ethnical background (Beech et al., 2017).
Although the common belief is that an increase in diversity leads to an increase in creativity and conflict there exists evidence that individual outcomes depend on the management and leadership an organization provides to its employees (Jong & Den Hartog, 2007). Management and leadership can help reduce the negative effects of conflict by making the ethnically dissimilar employees feel included in the organization (Randel et al., 2018).
By studying the subject under focus this research can foster more research into this subject and develop concrete managerial suggestions that will minimize the negative effects of ethnic dissimilarity and maximize the positive effects of an ethnically diverse workforce.
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Similarly, since Perceived Creativity and Perceived Conflict could partly be dependent on employees’ perceptions of inclusion creating more insights and deeper understanding of this relation is noteworthy for public managers that aspire to use the positive outcomes of diversity to maximize the benefits of ethnical diversity.
As creativity is often accompanied by conflict studying the effect of ethnic dissimilarity on conflict can give more insights into their relation and public managers can best use these insights to create management practices that help in controlling conflict in the workplace. Controlling conflict in the workplace will enable public managers to make use of the useful aspects of workplace conflict.
1.2 Academic Relevance
Although diversity and inclusion has been studied extensively in the past decade by scholars like Shore et al.(2011), Randel et al. (2018) and Simonton (1999); little attention has been given to the populations in the Netherlands and Belgium. Shore et al. (2011) in their theoretical paper, talk about the relationship between the climate of diversity, inclusion and creativity. In this article, they review the diversity and inclusion literature and develop a framework for inclusion. Simonton (1997) also studies the relationship between ethnic differences and creativity in Japan.
Although, it would not be fair to claim that there exists no evidence of research done in this field in these two countries (the Netherlands and Belgium) the subject definitely needs more attention in this specific area of the world. This is because diversity is a highly fluid concept that
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can lead to very different outcomes due to cultural and ethnical differences (Marvasti, McKinney and Pinter, 2018).
To expand the understanding about the behaviors of the population of the Netherlands and Belgium regarding inclusion of ethnically dissimilar employees more academic work is needed. Simonton (1997) does study something similar to this relationship but his/her study is central and applicable to only Japan. This is because Japan is a collectivistic society, but the Netherlands and Belgium fall in the category of individualistic societies (Ghosh, 2004). It is not surprising that people from these different societies behave differently due to differences in values, norms and culture (Becker, 2012).
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1.3 Reading Guide
To address the research question I am going to first discuss the theoretical framework that will familiarize the reader with the relevant concepts, then I am going to discuss the research methods in detail. This will be followed by an evidence based discussion on the findings of this research. Which will be followed by an analysis of the findings. Lastly, this research will be concluded with discussions on the findings and its implications for future research.
This conclusion will also have a section on the limitations of this research. As this research aims to find the effect of perceived ethnic differences (dissimilarity) on perceived creativity and conflict. The research will make use of surveys as a method of research.
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2. Theoretical Framework
2.1 Perception
Bekele et al. (2014), in his research mention that perception plays an important role in outcomes of the employees like willingness to engage in a task and satisfaction. Moreover, if employees have a positive perception it results in positive outcomes and if the employees have negative perception, it leads to negative outcomes (Bekele et.al, 2014). Similarly, Hartel (2004) suggests the importance of perception of dissimilarity among employees. He states that affective, behavioral and cognitive outcomes of diversity partially depend on the perception of diversity as well as the perception of dissimilarity. Lastly, Chang (2005), in her research also mentions that perception of employees matter a lot in organizations because the way employees perceive the environment at workplace influence organizational outcomes.
2.2 Ethnic Dissimilarity and Diversity
This research aims to study the effect of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity among individuals in the workplace which is also known as ethnic diversity. Ethnicity is the focus of this research because ethnic origin is considered one of the most noticeable features in the workplace (Brodbeck, 2011) The only main difference between ethnic dissimilarity and ethnic diversity is that of level of analysis: ethnic dissimilarity is at the individual level, whereas ethnic diversity is at the workplace level (Brodbeck, 2011). To say a workplace is ethnically diverse is to say that it consists of a variety of ethnicities (Paulus et al, 2003). As the two concepts are so intertwined and they
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have similar effects on outcomes; ethnic diversity literature is used to explain the effect of ethnic dissimilarity.
Ethnic dissimilarity is considered a prototypical attribute of dissimilarity. It occurs when people categorize each other in different groups based on ethical differences at surface level (Kim et.al, 2019, p.117). It has been defined as the ‘ethnic differences at the individual level among employees’.
Ethnic dissimilarity occurs when individuals find themselves dissimilar to their counterparts (Brodbeck, 2011, p.1200). Ethnic dissimilarity is often studied in two ways: the actual ethnic dissimilarity and perceived ethnic dissimilarity. Actual ethnic dissimilarity is when the focus is on an objective measure of how dissimilar individuals are from one other. Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity is when the focus is in on how dissimilar individuals think they are from their colleagues or team members based on ethnicity (Hobman et.al, 2004, p.562). This research looks at Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity in the workplace.
2.3 Ethnic Dissimilarity and Creativity
Tang et al. (2018) in their article state that there is a general consensus on what creativity is. They defined it as an act of developing “something that is both new and task appropriate”. They also states that regardless of the consensus on the definition, measuring creativity is hard. Nevertheless, it can be measured in three ways: by measuring performance, assessment by others and by self-reporting (Tang et al., 2018, p.264). The most relevant measurement for this research is assessment by others as Perceived Creativity is what I am trying to measure.
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According to Tang et al. (2016), there are two main theories to study creativity in teams. In their research they highlight the Information Decision making theory according to which people from diverse backgrounds can engage in knowledge sharing and lead to increase in creativity of the team. At the same time diversity can also lead to negative consequences on the levels of creativity due to Similarity Attraction Theory according to which people want to associate with those similar to themselves due to the same beliefs, values and attitudes (Tang et al. 2016).
Gilson et al (2003) in their research find team characteristics and interactions to be related with creativity. They further mention that perception of creativity is also related to how motivated the employees feel to be creative. At the same time, socializing with colleagues and interdependence of tasks also has shown an effect on creativity. According to their research the more interdependent tasks are the more people depend on each other and rely on each other. This makes employees take into consideration the ideas and inputs of their colleagues (Gilson et al., 2003). In short, inclusion of ethnic minorities by socialization and interdependence of tasks improved the creativity of employees (Gilson et al., 2003; Simonton et al. 1992).
McLeod et al. (1996), in their research explain that having a variety of ideas due to ethnic diversity leads to employees being able to produce high quality ideas. This is so that people can engage in kaleidoscope thinking which influences stimulation of creativity. McLeod et al. (1996) found in their experiment that ethnically diverse groups came up with more creative ideas, with the creativity of the ideas being judged on their feasibility and their effectiveness (McLoed et al., 1996). Hoffman (1979), conducted similar research and found that heterogeneous units perform better than homogeneous units on tasks requiring creativity due to a greater variety of ideas, perspectives, and approaches (Hoffman, 1979).
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Chatman (1998) adds to this by stating that it is the willingness of the employees that determines the availability of various ideas, perspectives and approaches (Chatman, 1998). Nevertheless, Perry-Smith (2006) mentions that minority opinions can be useful in developing creative solutions to organizational problems (Perry-Smith, 2006, p 85).
Based on the above the following hypothesis was formulated:
Hypothesis 1: An increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity relates to an increase in
Perceived Creativity.
2.4 Ethnic Dissimilarity and Conflict
For this research conflict can be defined as interpersonal friction that occurs among employees due to different views on what should be done and how (Gifford, 2015, p.2). More specifically it can be defined as “The process that begins when one party perceives that another has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that he or she cares about” (Carter & Byrnes, 2006, p.2).
The conflict that highlights the differences in interpersonal interactions is called emotional conflict which is similar to what Hobman et al. (2006) have called relationship conflict. This categorical division is based on similarity and differences of race, sex, ethnicity as well as organizational, professional or departmental membership (Paulus et al., 2003).
These studies have often used self-categorization theory and social identity theory for example Schaafsma (2008) and Hobman et al. (2006). Self-categorization theory is defined as “a theory of
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the nature of the self that recognizes that perceivers are both individuals and group member, explains how and when people will define themselves as individual and group entities and its implications, and examines the impact of this variability in self-perception (‘I’ to ‘we’) for understanding of mind and behaviour” (Turner, Reynolds and Katherine, 2012).
The idea of Social identity theory is that “a person forms a unique personal identity as an individual and develops a social identity based on the groups to which he or she belongs” (John, 2013, p.499). According to Social Identity Theory, individuals categorize themselves based on the similarities and differences among themselves which further lead to either favoritism or discrimination of in-group and out-group members (Schaafsma, 2008, p.455).
When individuals find themselves in situations where they are visibly dissimilar from others it creates a feeling of anxiety among them which may increase the levels of conflict among them (Hobman et al., 2006). They mentioned that people prefer those and are attracted to those that are similar to themselves in values and attitudes. Moreover, people may make use of visible, underlying characteristics and informational characteristics to categorize themselves into various social categories (Hobman et al., 2006).
Hobman et al. (2006), in their research studied the role of team identification in the dissimilarity and conflict relationship. Visible dissimilarity is referred to as “differences in characteristics that are easily observed, such as age, sex and ethnicity” (Hobman et al. 2006, p.484). According to them visible dissimilarity, including ethnic dissimilarity, can lead to stereotyping and negative biases which can make people irritated and suspicious of one another. At the same time, conflicts that occur due to ethnicity-based dissimilarity can lead to improved
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decision quality as people engage in constructive criticism or behave as the devil's advocate (Hobman et al., 2006).
Paulus et al. (2003), in his book also mention that the presence of different “races” in a unit can lead to higher levels of conflict between people. This also affects people’s willingness to speak up because they do not trust the people they are surrounded with. When these individuals adapt themselves in the environment they may favor those similar to themselves and isolate themselves from the ones that are dissimilar. This is as a result of developing negative or positive biases towards the in-group and out-group members in a team. One of the factors that individuals compare themselves with others on is ethnicity. (Paulus et al., 2003).
Jehn et al. (1999), in their research studied the relationship between social category diversity and conflict and found that social category diversity indeed increases conflict. Social categorical diversity is the explicit differences among people such as ethnicity. This is a similar concept to that of visible dissimilarity discussed previously (Jehn et al., 1999).
People socially categorize themselves based on visible differences (ethnicity being one of those visible differences) which leads to task conflicts and relationship conflict at the unit level. This is because of similarity-attraction logic: people like to interact with those who are like them. When this does not happen, it can lead to stereotyping and biased behavior which can cause conflict among people (Jehn et al., 1999).
Similarly, Jehn (1994, 1995, and 1997) and De Dreu (2013) also believe that there is a difference in the type of conflict that occurs among people, especially in teams. The first is task conflict and the second is relational conflict. Task conflict is said to have a positive effect on the
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team performance while it is the relational conflict that can lead to negative outcomes like the shutting down of cognitive systems in people leading to inability to think well.
Although there is research done that differentiates between task conflict and relationship conflict as mentioned by De Dreu (2013). There is also evidence that task conflict and relationship are intertwined and not per se exclusive of one other (Guenter et al., 2016). Because this study mainly focuses on the effect of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity on Perceived Creativity and Perceived Conflict and not on perceived task conflict or relational conflict it will consider both fand relational conflict as single concept.
Schaafsma (2008) in her research looks at the perceptions of majorities and minorities as well as interethnic relations in their workgroup. She finds that interethnic differences do not necessarily affect the relationship between people. They only do so depending on the interests of the employee (Schaafsma, 2008). The authors concluded that the relationship among employees is only threatened if they feel that the practices are unfair, if they are not recognized for their achievements and if they feel like they do not belong to the unit (Schaafsma, 2008).
Another research by Van Der Zee (2004) states that differences among ethnically different individuals can influence work outcomes and performance outcomes. She also mentions that a reason that homogenous units often outperform heterogeneous units is a strong attachment with the identity of the unit (Van Der Zee, 2004). He finds that when people differ in their ideas and values that increases the chances of conflict. Thus, one can suggest the differences in ideas and values that are a result of differences in ethnicity can lead to conflict (Egan and Marshall, 2005).
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At a relationship or emotional level conflict can foster communication; making the relationship between individuals stronger. Conflict can occur among the members of units and in-between units. This can be due to deep-level differences, but often it occurs due to differences that are noticeable or visible at surface level like ethnicity (Jehn et al., 1999). In short, differences based on ethnicity stand out and get noticed in the first instance which can lead to stereotyping and biased attitudes which in turn leads to conflict (Hobman et al., 2006).
In short, according to Hobman et al. (2006) visible dissimilarity including ethnic dissimilarity can lead to stereotyping and negative biases which can make people irritated and suspicious of one other. Paulus et al. (2003), in their book also mentions that the presence of different “races” in a unit can lead to higher levels of conflict between people. This also affects people’s willingness to speak up because they do not trust the people they are surrounded with.
Jehn et al. (1999), in their research studied the relationship between social category diversity and conflict and found that social category diversity indeed increases conflict. Schaafsma (2008) in her research discusses that interethnic differences do not necessarily affect the relationship between people. They only do so depending on the interests of the employee.
Van Der Zee (2004) states that differences among ethnically different individuals can influence work outcomes and performance outcomes. At the same time, conflicts that occur due to ethnicity-based dissimilarity can lead to improved decision quality as people engage in constructive criticism or behave as the devil's advocate (Hobman et al., 2006).
Thus based on the above one can conclude conflict is said to have both positive and negative effects on short term and long term outcomes as well as individual outcomes.
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Based on the above the following hypothesis was formulated:
Hypothesis 2: An increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity relates to an increase in
Perceived Conflict.
2.5 Role of Inclusion
Inclusion is “a sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued, and seen for who we are as individuals; and a level of supportive energy and commitment from leaders, colleagues, and others so that we- collectively and individually- can do our best work.” (Schmidt, Macwilliams, and Neal-Boylan, 2017. p.102)
For this research inclusion is:
Inclusion is also “the degree to which an employee perceives that he or she is an esteemed member of the work group through experiencing treatment that satisfies his or her needs for belongingness and uniqueness” (Shore et al., 2011, p.1265). Shore et al. (2011), compare the various definitions of inclusion and states that some definitions highlight concepts like acceptance, openness and value contribution. These concepts furthermore suggest the belongingness aspect of inclusion. They consider belongingness and uniqueness to be necessary features of inclusion.
Shore et al. (2011), further make two main conclusions on the literature that addresses inclusion. First, three main measures of inclusion are: practices associated with insider status, knowledge/information sharing and having a voice. Moreover they state that these practices
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improve an employee’s perception of inclusion. Second, there is a clear pattern that inclusion has positive consequences for individuals and organizations.
The definition that is provided by Shore et al. (2011) mentioned above emphasizes the belongingness and uniqueness aspect of inclusion. Randel et al. (2018) in their research also mention that inclusion is an important factor that results in positive employee outcomes. To give their best employees need to feel like they belong to the unit they work in and at the same time they need to be appreciated for their uniqueness (Randel, 2018). This is because humans are social beings and they have an inherent desire to be unique and similar to others at the same time.
Moreover Randel et al. (2018), like Shore et al. 2011, mention that inclusion has a positive effect on individuals and organizations. Randel et al., 2018 in their research also explain that if ethnically dissimilar employees’ ideas are encouraged for being different and they are supported by the other members of the unit, it improves behavioral outcomes like creativity. This is because when an individual feels psychologically empowered it increases their willingness to create. This willingness to create leads to improved creativity (Randel et al., 2018).
Baumeister et al, (2002) in their research try to find the link between belongingness and intelligent thought. Intelligent thought in return enables creativity (Vincent et al, 2002). They find that people that were excluded showed biggest reductions in reasoning and thinking, but simple information processes seemed unaffected. In contrast, social exclusion did not decrease the quality of simple tasks that need little thinking and reasoning. For employees to generate something new and appropriate for the task, i.e. a creative solution, being able to reason and think well is a must.
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Research has shown that when people are excluded it affects their reasoning and ability to think, especially if the task is complicated (Baumeister et al., 2002). This indicates that inclusion might affect the creativity of the employee. Similarly, when a unit has both people from the majority and minority and minority employees feel excluded this could lead to conflicts in the unit and among the people (Baumeister et al, 2002). However, the more the dissimilar employees feel included, the less negative outcomes could be expected.
Based on the above the following hypotheses were formulated:
Hypothesis 3: Perceived Inclusion positively moderates the relation between Perceived
Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity in such a way that a positive relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity is strengthened.
Hypothesis 4: Perceived Inclusion negatively moderates the relation between Perceived
Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict in such a way that it reduces the positive relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict.
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2.6 Theoretical Model
Based on the literature discussed above this research evaluates the following theoretical diagram:
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3. Research Method
3.1 Data and Sample
Perception of an individual can be best determined by asking individuals about what they think of a specific issue. Perception of individuals is also studied by for instance Hobman et al. (2006) and Egan (2005). The data in this study was collected by using surveys with a sample size of 111 participants. The survey was posted on a platform known as SurveyCircle. It is an online community that aims to exhibit mutual support in online research. Research Enthusiasts can participate in the circle to promote research as well as allowing researchers to post their surveys (SurveyCircle, 2019). It supports research by giving the people a chance to support and experience online research projects and participate in them (SurveyCircle, 2019). SurveyCircle provides for researchers: the more surveys researchers fill in the more points they get and those points determine the ranking of their own survey.
The aim here was to get as many respondents that work in the public sector in the Netherlands or Belgium as possible. To reach a sufficient sample, snowballing strategy was also applied using several social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. To confirm participants’ interest and consent in the survey all the relevant information and a consent form too was provided to them.
The consent form included the purpose of the study, the reason to get an invitation to participate, declaration on voluntary participation, expectation from the participants, benefits and risks, contact information, confidentiality, organizing and funding of the research.
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Moreover to make sure that participants give their clear consent the participants were given the option to either give consent or not. In a case where the participants did not want to participate in the survey they were redirected out of the survey.
Although, this technique has been criticized for affecting the representativeness of the sample this technique is suitable for reaching a bigger sample for testing the study’s hypotheses. Moreover, to get a sufficient number of participants individual emails were sent to persons that work in the public sector and whose email addresses were available on the internet. Lastly, to make the respondents feel comfortable the survey gave the respondent the option of filling in the answers in either Dutch or English.
The sampling is done by inviting individuals who work in the public sector to fill in the surveys by implementing filters to find suitable respondents. The reason SurveyCircle and snowballing are the methods chosen to collect data is because the data is reliable and generalizable as SurveyCircle is led by individuals who want to promote online research, there are higher chances that individuals will fill in what they actually feel and perceive (SurveyCircle, 2019). As for snowballing, this method is often used to reach hard to reach or hidden populations (Kowald et al, 2012, p.1087) so it is only logical if this technique is used for individuals that work in the public sector.
3.2 Method
For analyzing the data and test the conceptual model Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis was used. SPSS was used to determine the descriptive statistics and the regression analysis
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of the research variables as well as the correlations. As multiple independent variables are studied in relation to two dependent variables (the effect of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity on Perceived Creativity and Perceived Conflict using Age, Gender and Educational Background as control variables) Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression has been used for both Perceived Creativity and Perceived Conflict. Variables were standardized before running the regression and correlations.
As the survey is available in two languages the first step was to combine the results of the original question and the translated question into one new variable. After this all variables pertaining to the same concept were summed to create the final variable. Recoding took place for the control variable Education Level.
Effect of Perceived Inclusion was studied by doing a moderator analysis of the relevant variables in SPSS. The moderator variable will be computed as a multiplication of the independent variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity with the moderating variable Perceived Inclusion.
3.3 Measurements
The questions that were used for the purposes of this research are taken from existing literature like Jehn and Elizabeth (2001), Zhou & George (2001), Jehn et.al (1999) and Pascarella (1996). The question selection was made based on the values of Cronbach’s Alpha (α). Only the questions that had the highest value of Cronbach’s Alpha (α) were selected for sampling the population of this survey. Cronbach’s Alpha (α) is extensively used to exhibit consistency among a set of items
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(Vermeeren, 2014, p.182). The higher the Cronbach’s Alpha (α) is the higher is the consistency among the set of items.
3.3.1 Independent Variables
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity
This research asked the questions (see appendix A) based on Hobman et al. (2004):
• “I feel I am visibly dissimilar to my colleagues in terms of visible characteristics”. • “I think I am different from others based on my ethnic background”.
• “I feel that the values of my colleagues are different from mine due to a difference in culture”.
The questions in the research are of a Cronbach’s Alpha (α) of .80 for these questions. For Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity the 7-point Likert Scale includes a range from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). The full table with the reliability per item can be found in Appendix B.
3.2 Dependent Variables
Perceived Creativity
For Perceived Creativity the survey questions were based Zhou’s (2001) paper. There are in total 5 questions that will be used to evaluate Perceived Creativity. The questions in the research are of a Cronbach’s Alpha (α) of .89 for these questions.
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• Colleagues suggesting new ways to reach the targeted goals
• Colleagues coming up with new and appropriate ideas to improve performance • Colleagues being a good source of creative ideas
• Colleagues coming up with appropriate plans for implementation of new ideas Zhou (2001)
For Perceived Creativity the 7-point Likert Scale includes a range from 1 (Not applicable at all) to 7 (Very applicable). The full table with the reliability per item can be found in Appendix B.
Perceived Conflict
For Perceived Creativity the questions were based on the work of Jehn and Elizabeth (2001). In their research the questions were based on Perceived Conflict being evident in the group such as:
• “tension among the members of the work unit”
• “frequency of conflict based on the ideas in the work unit” • “members of your work unit disagree about who should do what”
• “members of your work unit disagree about the way to complete a group task”
These questions had Cronbach’s Alpha (α) of .87 (See Appendix A). For Perceived Conflict the 7-point Likert Scale includes a range from 1 (None) to 7 (A lot). The full table with the reliability per item can be found in Appendix B.
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3.3.3 Moderating Variable
Perceived Inclusion
The questions were modeled on the questions asked by Jansen et al., (2014). These are as follows:
“My team…”
• “…gives me the feeling that I belong”
• “…gives me the feeling that I am part of the group” • “…appreciates me”
• “…allows me to be who I am”
• “…allows me to be my authentic self” • “…encourages me to be who I am”
• “…encourages me to be my authentic self.”
For Perceived Inclusion the 7-point Likert Scale includes a range from Perceived Inclusion includes 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree).
The internal consistency of the items to measure Perceived Inclusion was found to be α = 0.89. The full table with the reliability per item can be found in Appendix B.
3.3.4 Control Variables
Age is controlled for by asking the respondents “What’s your age?” Rietzschel et al. (2016), mentions that age can have negative effects on team’s creative performance if the team members
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have negative age stereotypes (p.21). Davis et al. (2009), finds age differences to be also related with conflict.
To keep the analysis representative of the population under study the inaccurate records were detected and removed. This was done by excluding the respondents with an age outside of the working population (18-67 years) from the analysis.
“Creativity is the outcome of an individual's accumulated creative thinking skills and expertise based on formal education and past experience” (Gumusluoglu and Ilsev, 2009, p.466). Dwomoh et al. (2014) in his research finds education level is indeed related to conflict. This points to Education level influencing both levels of creativity and conflict. So, this factor is controlled by asking “What is the highest level of education you have achieved?” The options provided are as follows:
● No schooling completed (Geen)
● High school graduate, diploma or the equivalent (Middelbare school, of soortgelijke opleiding)
● Some college credit (Studiepunten behaald op een universitaire opleiding, maar geen diploma)
● Trade/technical/vocational training (Beroepsopleiding) ● Professional degree (Hoger beroepsonderwijs (HBO)) ● Associate degree (Associate diploma)
● Bachelor’s degree (Bachelor diploma) ● Master’s degree (Master diploma)
29 ● Doctorate degree (Doctoraat)
Furthermore, a dummy variable named ‘Higher Education’ was created in the analysis because the scale for education level did not appear to be in a logically increasing order. This new dummy variable was constructed based on ‘yes’ or ‘no’ higher education. No was coded as ‘0’ and Yes was coded as ‘1’.
Gender is a socially developed aspect of a person’s biological sex. It is often used as a synonym of biological sex (Haig, 2004, p.87). In the past, research has shown gender to be related with creativity and conflict (Lee, Choi and Kim, 2018). In this research gender was measured through the following options: Male, Female. They we coded as Male = 0 and Female = 1. In total 58 respondents were male and 52 respondents were female.
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4. Research Findings
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
In this chapter the research results are presented. First some descriptive statistics are discussed, followed by the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression to test our hypotheses.
Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Median Standard
Deviation Age 106 18 67 31.16 25.00 13.042 Higher Education 106 0.00 1.00 .858 1.00 .35020 Gender 106 0.00 1.00 0.462 0.00 .50094 Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity 106 1.00 7.00 3.399 3.333 1.59723 Perceived Inclusion 106 3.14 7.00 5.258 5.285 .984 Perceived Creativity 106 1.50 7.00 5.040 5.250 1.120 Perceived Conflict 106 1.00 6.80 3.517 3.400 1.178
In Table 4.1 the descriptive statistics are shown. Here it is shown that the mean age of the respondents was 31 years, and median is age is 25 years with majority of them with higher education. The sample though binary seems to be slightly male-centric.
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4.2 Correlations
Table 4.2: Pearson correlation coefficients
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
1. Gender -
2. Age 0.102 -
3. Higher Education 0.051 0.097 -
4. Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity -0.209* -0.176 0.040 -
5. Perceived Inclusion -0.085 0.056 0.143 -0.188 -
6. Incl. X Dissim. (Moderator) -0.225* -0.163 0.101 0.912** 0.186 -
7. Perceived Creativity -0.186 -0.052 0.154 0.117 0.355** 0.236* -
8. Perceived Conflict -0.205* -0.056 -0.084 0.479** -0.245* 0.367** -0.104 - *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Perceived Conflict had a significant moderate positive correlation with Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity (r = 0.479, p = 0.000). This means that with an increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity Perceived Conflict also increased. Perceived Conflict also had a significant smaller negative correlation with Perceived Inclusion (r = -0.245, p = 0.011). This means that with an increase in Perceived Conflict coincides with a decrease in Perceived Inclusion decreased. Perceived Conflict had a significant negative correlation with Gender (r = -0.205, p = 0.035). This means that being Female coincides with low Perceived Conflict.
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Perceived Creativity had a significant moderate correlation with Perceived Inclusion (r = 0.355, p = 0.000). This means that with an increase in Perceived Inclusion, Perceived Creativity increases.
Finally, Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity had smaller significant negative correlations with the control variable Gender (r = -0.209, p = 0.031). This means that being Female was connected to a lower Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity.
4.3 Regression Models
For both tables the regression models were generated by entering the independent variables. Model 1 included only the controlled variables Age, Gender and Education Level. Model 2 had the independent variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity added to it. Models 3 and 4 added Perceived Inclusion and the calculated moderator variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity x Perceived Inclusion respectively.
4.3.1 Regression Model Perceived Creativity
Model 1 explained only a small amount of variance at the p < 0.10 level (R² = 0.064 p = .080). Adding the independent variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity increased the amount of variance explained (R² = 0.068) and made Model 2 non-significant (p = 0.127). In Model 1 Gender was a significant predictor at p < 0.10 level (B= -0.190, p = 0.052). This means that on average female respondents were associated with lower Perceived Creativity. Similarly, Higher Education was
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also significant in Model 1 at p < 0.10 level (B= 0.168, p =0.083). This means that being highly educated had a positive and significant effect on Perceived Creativity.
Model 3 explained a larger and significant amount of variance than Model 2 (R² = 0.187, p = 0.002). Perceived Inclusion was a significant predictor at the p = 0.000 level (B = 0.359, p = 0.000). This means as Perceived Inclusion increases the mean of Perceived Creativity also increases by 0.359. Simply, as Perceived Inclusion increases, Perceived Creativity increases by 0.359.
Finally, adding the calculated moderator variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity x Perceived Inclusion explained a slightly larger and significant amount of variance (R² = 0.190, p = 0.003). There was one significant predictor at the p < 0.05 level which was Perceived Inclusion (B = 0.469, p = 0.023). This means with an increase in Perceived Inclusion the mean of Perceived Creativity also increases by 0.469. Simply, as Perceived Inclusion increases, Perceived Creativity increases by 0.469. Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity did not have a significant effect on Perceived Creativity.
Therefore, based on the evidence one can conclude that the null hypothesis for Hypothesis 1 cannot be rejected. This means based on the results, Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity does not affect Perceived Creativity. Hence, H1 (An increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity relates to an increase in Perceived Creativity) cannot be affirmed.
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Table 4.3: Regression Models for dependent variable Perceived Creativity
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
B Std. Error B Std. Error B Std. Error B Std. Error
Age -0.049 0.109 -0.038 0.111 -0.051 0.113 -0.057 0.113
Gender -0.190* 0.098 -0.176 0.100 -0.126 0.095 -0.122 0.096
Education Level 0.168* 0.098 0.164 0.098 0.082 0.162 0.079 0.162
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity 0.067 0.101 0.144 0.098 0.435 0.494
Perceived Inclusion 0.359*** 0.096 0.469** 0.207
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity x Perceived Inclusion -0.297 0.490
R2 0.064* 0.068 0.187** 0.190**
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4.3.2 Regression Model Perceived Conflict
Model 1 explained a very small, non-significant amount of variance (R² = 0.048, p = .166). Gender was a small negative significant predictor at the p < 0.10 level in Model 1 (B = -0.199, p = 0.043). This means that on average female respondents were associated with lower Perceived Conflict.
Adding the independent variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity increased the amount of variance explained (R² = 0.253) and made Model 2 significant (p = 0.000). Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity was the only significant predictor of Perceived Conflict in Model 2 (B = 0.469, p = 0.000). This means that increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity increases Perceived Conflict by 0.469.
Model 3 explained a slightly larger and significant amount of variance than Model 2 (R² = 0.279, p = 0.000). Adding Perceived Inclusion still left Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity as the only significant predictor at the p = 0.000 level (B = 0.435, p = 0.000). At the p < 0.10 level Perceived Inclusion was a significant small negative predictor of Perceived Conflict (B = -0.166, p = 0.064). This means that increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity increases Perceived Conflict by 0.435. But an increase in Perceived Inclusion decreases Perceived Conflict by -0.166.
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Table 4.4: Regression Model for dependent variable Perceived Conflict
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
B Std. Error B Std. Error B Std. Error B Std. Error
Age -0.029 0.110 0.049 0.099 0.059 0.105 0.054 0.106
Gender -0.199** 0.098 -0.107 0.089 -0.130 0.089 -0.127 0.090
Higher education -0.071 0.098 -0.102 0.087 -0.043 0.151 -0.046 0.152
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity 0.469*** 0.090 0.435*** 0.092 0.716 0.463
Perceived Inclusion -0.166* 0.090 -0.060 0.193
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity x Perceived Inclusion -0.287 0.459
R2 0.048 0.253*** 0.279*** 0.282***
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Finally, adding the calculated moderator variable Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity x Perceived Inclusion explained a slightly larger and significant amount of variance (R² = 0.282, p = 0.000). This means that none of the predictors were significant.
Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity did have a positive effect on Perceived Conflict. Therefore, the null hypothesis for Hypothesis 2 can be rejected based on the results discussed previously. Hence, H2 (An increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity relates to an increase in Perceived Conflict) can be affirmed.
The null hypothesis for Hypothesis 3 cannot be rejected as Perceived Inclusion did not positively moderate the relationship between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity in such a way that the positive relationship between them is strengthened. Therefore H3 cannot be affirmed. Interestingly however, Perceived Inclusion did have a direct and significant effect on Perceived Creativity.
Similarly, the null hypothesis for Hypothesis 4 cannot be rejected as Perceived Inclusion does not negatively moderate the relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict in a way that reduces the positive relation between Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict. Therefore H4 cannot be affirmed. However, Perceived Inclusion did have a small negative effect on conflict. This effect was only significant at the p < 0.10 level of significance. Although, the results of this research do not affirm H3 and H4 they do however show an interesting trend. Below is a depiction of the H3 and H4 depicting an interaction.
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Figure 4.1: Interaction plot depicting the trend lines between IV, MV and Perceived
Creativity
In the Figure 4.1 Employees with low Perceived Inclusion (MV) displayed greater Perceived Creativity (DV) in an environment where Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity (IV) was high. Similarly, Employees with high Perceived Inclusion (MV) displayed lower Perceived Creativity (DV) in an environment where Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity (IV) was low. In short, the diagram depicts a negative moderation effect. In other words, while we see that Perceived Creativity increases with increasing Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity, the effect is enhanced under conditions of low Perceived Inclusion and reduced under conditions of high Perceived Inclusion. Thus with increasing Perceived Inclusion, the positive effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity in the form of Perceived Creativity are reduced.
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Figure 4.2: Interaction plot depicting the trend lines between IV, MV and Perceived Conflict
In the Figure 4.2 Employees with low Perceived Inclusion (MV) displayed greater Perceived Conflict (DV) in an environment where Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity (IV) was high. Similarly, Employees with high Perceived Inclusion (MV) displayed lower Perceived Conflict (DV) in an environment where Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity (IV) was low. In short, the diagram depicts a negative moderation effect. In other words, while we see that Perceived Conflict increases with increasing Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity, the effect is enhanced under conditions of low Perceived Inclusion and reduced under conditions of high Perceived Inclusion. Thus with increasing Perceived Inclusion, the negative effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity in the form of Perceived Conflict are reduced.
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5. Discussion and Implications
5.1 Creativity and Conflict
This research has addressed the link between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity with Perceived Creativity and Perceived Conflict and the role of Perceived Inclusion. I hypothesized that an increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity relates to an increase in Perceived Creativity (H1), but Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity did not have a significant effect on Perceived Creativity.
The results of this research were not in line with McLeod et al. (1996) who found that ethnically diverse groups came up with more creative ideas, with the creativity of the ideas being judged on their feasibility and their effectiveness. This may be due to McLoed et al. (1996) evaluating the creativity of the ideas of the groups, whereas in this research the focus was on an individual’s perceived creativity.
Hoffman (1979), who conducted similar research and found that heterogeneous units perform better than homogeneous units on tasks requiring creativity due to a greater variety of ideas, perspectives, and approaches. A workgroup can be heterogeneous due to characteristics like gender, age and ethnicity. The results of this research were also not in line with Hoffman (1979), however in Hoffman’s research heterogeneity consisted of multiple characteristics, such as age, gender and ethnicity. In this research only of these factors was examined, namely Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity.
Moreover, the third hypothesis stated that Perceived Inclusion positively moderates the relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity in such a way that a positive
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relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity is strengthened (H3). The results found in this research do not support that Perceived Inclusion positively moderates the relationship between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity.
Unlike, Randel et al., (2018) who also found ethnically dissimilar employees to improve creativity as a result of inclusion which was not confirmed by this research. Baumeister et al. (2002) in their research found that exclusion negatively influenced intelligent thought. Intelligent thought in return enables creativity by enabling the individual to convert thought into action (Vincent et al., 2002). This result was not in line with this research, but in this research the more specific relationship between Perceived Inclusion and Perceived Creativity was examined as opposed to the more general relationship between exclusion and intelligent thought.
Lastly, the fourth hypothesis stated that Perceived Inclusion negatively moderates the relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict in such a way that it reduces the positive relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict (H4). In this research Perceived Inclusion was not found to negatively moderate the relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Conflict.
The three hypotheses were not affirmed. However hypothesis (H2) an increase in Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity relates to an increase in Perceived Conflict was affirmed. This can be related back to the literature where ethnic dissimilarity resulted in a lack of trust, differences in ideas and values due to differences in culture, differences in working approach led to conflict (Egan and Marshall, 2005; Hobman et al., 2006; Jehn et al., 1999; Paulus et al. 2003).
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Previous research like Paulus et al. (2003) who found that differences between people based on race and ethnicity increase conflict; Jehn et al, (1999), who found that social category diversity indeed increases conflict are in line with the results of this research as Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity was a positive predictor of Perceived Conflict.
Perceived Inclusion did have a direct and significant effect on Perceived Creativity. Also, Perceived Inclusion did have a small negative effect on Perceived Conflict. This effect was only significant at the p < 0.10 level of significance. The theoretical model based on these findings can be seen below.
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5.2 General Trends
Based on the trends in figure 4.1 and 4.2 one can state that both effects were negative. This means that the diagrams depict a negative moderation effect. The trend for H3 (Figure 4.1) indicates that with increasing Perceived Inclusion, the positive effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity in the form of Perceived Creativity are reduced. This means that although H4 is not affirmed based on the results of this study, there may lie a possibility that with increasing Perceived Inclusion, the negative effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity on Perceived Conflict are reduced.
The trend for H4 (Figure 4.2) indicates that H4 is partially substantiated. This means that although H4 is not affirmed based on the results of this study, there may lie a possibility that by increasing Perceived Inclusion, the negative effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity on Perceived Conflict are reduced.
5.3 Practical Implications
The results show that Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity affects Perceived Conflict. This effect can have managerial implications, it could be a factor to keep in mind when forming units or teams within an organization. The proportion of ethnic dissimilarity within the entire organization should also be taken into account. It should be kept in mind that an increase in conflict is not per definition negative conflict has been shown to foster creative processes (Jing, 2015, p.187). One way of managing workplace conflict is by fostering an environment where ideas can be exchanged in a professional and respectful manner. Another way of managing conflict is to enable one on one
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dialogues through meetings (Walker, 2019). Moreover, managers can act like counsellors to help the employee understand each other’s point of view and help them to see one others recommendations as not a contradiction but as a possible alternative solution (Walker, 2019).
Similarly, Perceived Inclusion affects both Perceived Creativity and might affect Perceived Conflict. Based on this finding one can reaffirm the relation between Perceived Inclusion and Perceived Creativity. For managers this means that they should foster a climate of inclusion. One can affirm an inclusive climate by promoting fair treatment of the employees, including the minorities in decision making and promoting practices that help in the integration of differences (Tang, Jiang & Tian, 2018, p. 716) For example, by organizing company events that foster communication among employees.
Once more research on the relationship between Perceived Inclusion and Perceived Conflict is done, more suggestions for public managers can be made so they can use inclusion to manage conflict.
5.4 Limitations
Although this research found some interesting results it did not find an effect between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity or the moderating effect of Perceived Inclusion. Moreover, this research has a few limitations. First, a larger sample size could give a better estimate of the proposed hypothesis.
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Second, the respondents in this research self-reported their working in the public sector. As a result the sampling does not give confidence that it actually only consists of employees currently working in the public sector. To increase confidence in the findings and analysis the respondents whose age was outside of the working population (18-67) were excluded from the analysis. Moreover, The sample was also heavily skewed toward younger individuals. This was made more insightful by also giving the median values in the descriptive statistics.
Third, more research needs to be done in a different context to see if the results of this study also hold true for other countries and cultures. As discussed earlier there are differences between collectivistic cultures (remember Japan) and individualistic cultures (the Netherlands). Differences in cultures might lead to different results for this topic as people’s attitudes and perceptions are influenced by values derived from the culture to which they belong.
Fourth, although this research take into consideration age, gender and level of education in the analysis. It does not include the type of public organization or team setting the respondent works in. This can have implications on how respondents view their colleagues and/or how their response is influenced by the organization, team and type of tasks. Future research can gain clearer insight into the relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity as well as Perceived Conflict by also including the organization type and setting of the team. It is important to take these contextual factors into account when studying ethnic dissimilarity, conflict, creativity and inclusion because these contextual factors might also influence perception of the employees.
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Although, many of the cited work like De Dreu (2003), Hobman et al.(2004), Hoffman (1979), Jansen et al. (2014), study the concepts in team settings one should also keep in mind that different team settings might affect perception of individual employees differently.
Fifth, the study is cross-sectional. To ascertain the role of inclusion other types of research methods should be adopted. For example two subsets can be studied one with the provision of inclusive behavior/environment and the other one without. Then the results should be compared to see how inclusion effects ethnically dissimilar people and their perceptions. To derive the subsets public organizations can be categorized by industry. Based on the industry-specific categorization further research can be done. This way one can also develop industry specific findings on inclusion and it’s relation with ethnic dissimilarity
5.5 Conclusion
That increasing diversity leads to increased organizational performance is a common belief (Strauss, 2018). One of the most important reasons for making public organizations more diverse and inclusive is that it will improve the quality of workforce and maximize the benefits of an increasingly globalizing world (OPM, 2019). However, diversity is often accompanied by creativity and conflict due to the presence of multiple perspectives and views. The outcome of diversity is dependent on contextual variables like inclusion (Guillaume et al. 2017; Joshi & Roh 2009). Wright & Nishii (2007) have claimed that there is a difference between what the actuality is and what it is perceived like. It is the perception that employees have which influences the behavior of the employees (p.15). Therefore in this research I tried to find the effect of Perceived
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Ethnic Dissimilarity on Perceived Creativity and Conflict of public sector employees in the Netherlands and Belgium, and the role of Perceived Inclusion in this relationship.
The results of the research show that in light of the investigated data, Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity does not have a significant effect on Perceived Creativity (H1). Also, Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity does have a positive effect on Perceived Conflict (H2). Further, Perceived Inclusion does not positively moderate the relationship between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity (H3). Perceived Inclusion does not negatively moderate the relation between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity. However, Perceived Inclusion did have a small negative effect on conflict (H4).
The general trends relating to H3 and H4 show interesting results that can be utilized in future research. These trends show that by increasing Perceived Inclusion, the positive effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity in the form of Perceived Creativity are reduced. Similarly, with increasing Perceived Inclusion, the negative effects of Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity on Perceived Conflict are reduced.
As the current body of work on the relationship between Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity and Perceived Creativity is limited, this topic requires more attention from the academic community. Similarly, more research into Perceived Inclusion, Perceived Conflict and Perceived Creativity and Perceived Ethnic Dissimilarity is required to further understand the effect of perception on individual outcomes as well as performance related outcomes. So, that more managerial suggestions like the ones recommended in this research can be made. Such recommendations will enable organizations to create practices that can help in controlling conflict at the workplace to
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utilize the useful aspects of workplace conflict to maximize positive outcomes of conflict and ethnical diversity.
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