CHAPTER 3

Group Member Diversity
CHAPTER OUTLINE Heterogeneous Groups Personality Dimensions Personality Theory Implications of Personality Dimensions Cultural Dimensions Individualism–Collectivism Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Masculine–Feminine High Context–Low Context Monochronic Time–Polychronic Time Barriers to Cultural Understanding Gender Dimensions Generational Dimensions Balanced Diversity GroupWork: Personality Preferences GroupAssessment: Identifying Cultural Dialectics

ISBN: 0-536-56665-8

63
Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies, Fourth Edition, by Isa N. Engleberg and Dianna R. Wynn. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.

64

Part I Basic Group Concepts

HETEROGENEOUS GROUPS
When you read or hear the word diversity, you may think about race or about people from other countries. The concept of diversity, however, involves much more than country of origin, skin color, or ethnic heritage. When discussing group communication, we use the term diversity in its most general sense—the quality of being different. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines diverse as “made up of distinct characteristics, qualities, or elements.”1 The homogeneous–heterogeneous dialectic is particularly applicable to the study of group membership. As we note in Chapter 1, the prefix homo comes from the Greek language and means “same” or “similar”; hetero means “different.” Thus, a homogeneous group is composed of members who are the same or similar, and a heterogeneous group is composed of members who are not the same. And remember. there is no such thing as a purely homogeneous group because no two members can be exactly the same. Diversity exists in all groups. Every person on this earth—and thus every member of a group—is different. Even identical twins have different