Performance in intercultural interactions at work: cross-cultural differences in response to behavioral mirroring

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Intercultural workplace interactions can be negatively impacted by subtle nonverbal cues.
• Overt prejudice is not always the cause of performance deficits in diverse teams.
• Understanding cultural differences in interpreting nonverbal signals is crucial for effective communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how nonverbal behavioral mirroring affects intercultural workplace interactions.
• To examine differential responses to mirroring based on cultural group membership (U.S. Anglos vs. U.S. Latinos).
• To assess the impact of mirroring on state anxiety and interaction performance.

Main Methods:

• A field study with experienced managers involving behavioral mirroring by a confederate.
• Two additional laboratory experiments manipulating behavioral mirroring and cultural group membership.
• Measurement of state anxiety and actual performance in workplace interactions.

Main Results:

• Behavioral mirroring differentially affected U.S. Latinos' state anxiety and interaction performance.
• U.S. Anglos' state anxiety was not significantly affected by the confederate's mirroring.
• Experimental studies confirmed the interaction between mirroring and cultural group on interaction evaluations.

Conclusions:

• Cultural group membership moderates the effects of nonverbal behavioral mirroring in workplace settings.
• Subtle nonverbal cues, like mirroring, can have significant, culturally-dependent impacts on interaction outcomes.
• Findings have implications for training and managing diverse workforces to improve intercultural competence.