The Influence of Diversity Factors on Individual Behavior
Mark Hargrove
University of Phoenix
MGT/330
January 30, 2006
The Influence of Diversity Factors on Individual Behavior
There are numerous influences that affect individual and group behavior in the workplace. A great many of these are external to the workplace, and include the influences of pervasive social forces that shape an individual's behavior from early childhood, such as religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; physiological influences that impose both opportunities and constraints, such as age and gender; and the influences from life choices that individuals make, such as occupation and geographic location. The general question of "how does influence X affect behavior?" is too broad to address. This paper will examine four specific examples of the impact of gender, religion, age, and sexual orientation on behavior in the workplace, with the objective of illustrating the profound scope and influence of the elements of diversity.
Gender
Forming teams to solve specific problems inside of a company is common practice. What impact does the gender-diversity of the team have on its performance? Socialization of gender roles begins at very early ages, with men and women experiencing different socialization processes that result in different patterns of behavior. Girls are commonly taught to respect male authority, to act in a communal fashion, and to resist expressing aggressive or assertive behaviors. Conversely, boys are socialized to be aggressive and competitive. There are certainly modern trends away from these stereotypes, but there is still a common level of perception that the socialized behaviors from childhoo ...