article #4: Sanchez-Burkes et al. Flashcards
purpose of the study
- propose a “relational schema approach” to looking at whether interpersonal work style (“task” based vs “socioemotional” based- that comes from culture) influenced who wanted to work together more ethnicity did
american relationship of task orientation and socioemotional relation
- for americans, task orientation and socioemotional orientation can’t exsist at the same time- can only focus on one. (if one goes up, the other goes down)
- social world is broken into “work” and “social” (linked historically to influence of ascetic Protistantism
- “business is business”
Latin relationship of task orientation and socioemotional relation
simpatia : highly valued relational style similar to East Asian emphasis of social harmony
- has more emphasis on displays of personal charm, graciousness, hospitality
- person who is simpatico(a) makes a highly personable atmosphere, even in the workplace
goals of the study
- show that ppl evaluate workgroups based off of whether they are congruent with their relational schema
- see how much relational schema vs ethnicity play into how they choose groups and evaluate groups
- show that the difference is schema- based due to differences in
a) reasoning about what makes work relations successful
b) attention to socioemtional events in work settings
Study 1hypothesis
- Latins would evalute task+interpersonal groups more favorably, Americans would evaluate task groups more favorably
- evaluations would be due to relational style, not ethnic differences
- (a) latin suggestions would be socioemotional related (b) latins would think group would be more successful if more socioemotional (c) americans would think the reverse (d) latins would remember more socioemotional events
Study 1 procedure
- participants from universities in Mexico (110) an Midwest (108)
- presented w 1 of 4 videos of tutoring session that crossed relational style (task vs task+ interpersonal) with ethnicity (Anglo American vs Mexican)
-given questionaire asking about their memory of it, evaluations, suggestions, and couterfactual judgements (if things were different)
results of study 1
- Americans evaluated that things should be more task based (task + interperson group should be more task based)
- Mexican participants thought things could be improved by being more socioemotional (task group could use more socioemotional focus)
- both thought increase of task focus would be good (in counerfactual judgement section)
- mexicans had more memory of socioemotional events
- mexicans found task focus and socioemotional focus as mutually beneficial, while americans found them incompatible
- pattern of results suggest participant’s suggestions were due to relational differences rather than ethnic differences
did ethnicity play a role in study 1?
2 instances in counterfactual judgements section :
- americans believed Mexican performance in task + interpersonal workgroup would suffer more than Americans if socioemotional emphasis was increased
- Both Americans and Mexicans believed only Mexican targets would benefite more from increased task focus in the task+ interpersonal group
ultimately: ethnicity mattered, but it mattered less than relational schema
Study 2 hypothesis
- Mexican Americans would prefer the task + interpersonal comittee (and evaluate it better) , even when that meant not working with their ethnic ingroup
- Anglo- Americans would prefer the task committee (and evaluate it better), even when that meant not working with their ethnic ingroup
Study 2 procedure:
Mexican American and Anglo-American students were asked to listen to samples of two comittees (task/ task+interpersonal, one english and one latin )
then given a questionnaire
- which committee they would like to join
- 4 things they remembered from each
- 7 point scale on perceived future success
- manipulation check: 5 point scale on the extent each committee was “focused on the task” and “focused on relationships btwn the ppl”
study 2 results
- Mexican Americans wanted to join the task+interpersonal committee more
- Anglo-Americans wanted to join the task committee more
- both Mexican Americans and Anglo-Americans were uninfluenced by the committees’ ethnic makeups
- Anglo-Americans believed the task comittee would be more successful, while Mexican Americans didn’t find one to be more successful over the other
- Mexican Americans remembered more socioemotional events
any ethnic bias in both studies?
- latins perceived Anglo-American workgroups as less socioemotionally oriented
- in study 1, Anglo-American And Latins recalled more task-related events when presented with workgroups that shared their ethnicity
were the participants trying to be politically correct?
evidence that this wasn’t the case-
- in study 2, Anglo-Americans chose to work with the task group both when it was their ingroup and not
possible implications/ practical uses
Anglo Americans and Latins may have the ability to work better together if trained to work differently:
- Americans could be trained to consider socioemotional factors in the workplace, and not to see them as antithetical to productivity
- Latins might be dissuaded from perceiving lack of socioemotional aspect in work as a failure or that they are disliked
study 1: independent variable(s)
- ethnicity of participants ???
- targets’ relational schema: (task or task + interpersonal)
- targets’ ethnicities (Anglo-American or Mexican)
