Some differences make a difference: Individual dissimilarity and group heterogeneity as correlates of recruitment, promotions, and turnover.

Jackson, Susan E., Brett, Joan F., Sessa, Valerie I., Cooper, Dawn M.·1991·Journal of Applied Psychology

Abstract

Schneider's (1987) attraction-selection-attrition model and Pfeffer's (1983) organization demography model were used to generate individual-level and group-level hypotheses relating interpersonal context to recruitment, promotion, and turnover patterns. Interpersonal context was operationalized as personal dissimilarity and group heterogeneity with respect to age, tenure, education level, curriculum, alma mater, military service, and career experiences. For 93 top management teams in bank holding companies examined over a 4-yr period, turnover rate was predicted by group heterogeneity. For individuals, turnover was predicted by dissimilarity to other group members, but promotion was not. Team heterogeneity was a relatively strong predictor of team turnover rates. Furthermore, reliance on internal recruitment predicted subsequent team homogeneity.

Cites (1)

  1. Some Effects of Proportions on Group Life: Skewed Sex Ratios and Responses to Token Women
    Kanter, Rosabeth Moss · 1977 · American Journal of Sociology

Show all 1 references

Cited by (23)

  1. Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for Competitive Advantage in Firms
    Argote, Linda, Ingram, Paul · 2000 · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
  2. E Pluribus Unum : Diversity and Community in the Twenty‐first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture
    Putnam, Robert D. · 2007 · Scandinavian Political Studies
  3. What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite
    Cohen, Susan G., Bailey, Diane E. · 1997 · Journal of Management
  4. Searching for Common Threads: Understanding the Multiple Effects of Diversity in Organizational Groups
    Milliken, Frances J., Martins, Luis L. · 1996 · The Academy of Management Review
  5. Exploring the Black Box: An Analysis of Work Group Diversity, Conflict and Performance
    Pelled, Lisa Hope, Eisenhardt, Kathleen M., Xin, Katherine R. · 1999 · Administrative Science Quarterly

See all 937

How to cite

Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.

This page
CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Some differences make a difference: Individual dissimilarity and group heterogeneity as correlates of recruitment, promotions, and turnover. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037//0021-9010.76.5.675
The paper
Jackson, S. E., Brett, J. F., Sessa, V. I., & Cooper, D. M. (1991). Some differences make a difference: Individual dissimilarity and group heterogeneity as correlates of recruitment, promotions, and turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.76.5.675

Data sources

Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.