The Effects of Nationality Diversity on Leadership Perceptions in Multinational Teams

Abstract

We combine social identity and status perspectives on nationality to address the question: how does nationality diversity in terms of heterogeneity and inequality affect leadership perceptions in multinational teams? We investigated this question in terms of the effects of two types of nationality-based subgroups (i.e., identity and status) on interpersonal leadership perceptions in 36 teams, comprising 289 members from 51 countries. Our results show that membership in nationality-based subgroups affected leadership perceptions in two distinct ways. On one hand, team members perceived as leaders peers who belonged to the same identity subgroup (ingroup members) and this effect was mediated by perceptions of warmth toward members of same identity subgroups. On the other hand, team members also perceived as leaders peers who belonged to higher status subgroups (irrespective of whether they were ingroup or outgroup members) and this effect was mediated by positive perceptions of competence toward members of high status subgroups. We discuss implications of our study for research and practice of leadership, intergroup relations, and international management.