Do Birds of a Feather Always Flock Together? Deep-Level Diversity as an Organizing Social Principle for Task-Relevant Relationships

Homophily—or, the preference for similar others—has been well documented through empirical evidence. However, upon further investigation, certain applications of homophily in the workplace may give some pause for thought. For instance, more research is needed to examine the boundary conditions of homophily within work teams, such as individual characteristics and contextual factors. Accordingly, the current study reexamined the finding that homophily predicts human relationships, by looking at the relation between deep-level diversity and (a) social relationships, (b) task-relevant relationships, and (c) team performance. Results from a laboratory study with 139 teams (417 participants) indicated that (1) deep-level diversity drives positive, task-relevant relationships, (2) deep-level similarity drives negative, task-relevant relationships, and (3) deep-level diversity marginally predicts team task performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.