Customer-Oriented Prosocial Behavior:
An Exploratory Investigation
Lisa Hope Pelled
UNIVERSITY OFSOUTHERNCALIFORNIA
Thomas G. Cummings
UNIVERSITY OFSOUTHERNCALIFORNIAMark A. Kizilos
THEHAYGROUPThis research examines the relationship between two constructs that so race” of an organization or subunit. In the ensuing years, far have been studied independently of each other: organizational demog- researchers have studied the effects of organizational demogra-raphy and prosocial organizational behavior (POB). Drawing on social phy across different levels of social systems, from dyads and psychology and organizational behavior literatures, we develop a concep- work groups to the total organization. They have examined the tual framework that proposes how these constructs are interrelated. The effects of demography on a number of workplace outcomes, framework suggests two hypotheses. First, diversity variables high in job- including technical communication (Zenger and Lawrence, relatedness and low in visibility will be positively related to customer- 1989), turnover (McCain, O’Reilly, and Pfeffer, 1983; Pfeffer oriented POB. Second, diversity variables low in job-relatedness and high and O’Reilly, 1987; Wagner, Pfeffer, and O’Reilly, 1984), inno-in visibility will be negatively related to such POB. In a field study, we vation (Ancona and Caldwell, 1992; Bantel and Jackson, 1989; conduct a preliminary test of these predictions. Specifically, we use com- O’Reilly and Flatt, 1989), and company financial performance pany records and questionnaire data (from a firm in the nonalcoholic (Murray, 1989; Siciliano, 1996).
beverage industry) to compute associations between demographic diversity As knowledge of organizational demography has grown, and prosocial behavior in 223 work units. Results provide preliminary researchers have extended the range of variables that demogra-support for our hypotheses. Consistent with the first prediction, functional phy can be expected to affect. Our study continues in this background diversity has a significant positive association (b 50.26,p, tradition by examining the relationship between
organiza-0.01) with the customer-oriented POB of work units, as does company tional demography and prosocial organizational behavior tenure diversity (b 5 0.16, p , 0.05). Consistent with the second (POB), a potentially significant yet neglected variable in de-prediction, gender diversity has a significant negative association (b 5 mography research. POB has been defined as behavior that 20.13,p ,0.05) with customer-oriented POB; race diversity is also is “(a) performed by a member of an organization, (b) directed negatively related to POB (b 5 20.11), but at a marginal significance toward an individual, group, or organization with whom he level. These findings lend credence to our conceptual framework and or she interacts while carrying out his or her organizational suggest that further study of its components is warranted. J BUSN RES
role, and (c) performed with the intention of promoting the
2000. 47.209–216.1999 Elsevier Science Inc.
welfare of the individual, group, or organization toward which it is directed” (Brief and Motowidlo, 1986, p. 711). Behavior classified as POB can either be in-role (sometimes referred to as role-prescribed) or extra-role. In-role POB involves the
O
ver a decade ago, Pfeffer (1983, p. 303) called forformal requirements of one’s job; it is discretionary and hence greater attention to organizational demography, “the
prosocial, because it is not directly enforced (George and composition, in terms of basic attributes such as
Bettenhausen, 1990; George and Brief, 1992; McNeely and age, sex, educational level, length of service or residence, [and]
Meglino, 1994). Extra-role POB extends beyond job specifica-tions and includes performances that are above the norm
Address correspondence to: Dr. L. H. Pelled, University of Southern California, (George and Bettenhausen, 1990; George and Brief, 1992; Marshall School of Business, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1421. E-mail: pelled
@almaak.usc.edu McNeely and Meglino, 1994).
Journal of Business Research 47, 209–216 (2000)
1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 0148-2963/00/–see front matter
POB represents a “sometimes overlooked” dimension of work- unit demography and POB is not obvious and warrants investigation.
organizational performance that can have significant
implica-tions for organizational functioning (Van Dyne, Graham, and The purpose of our study is to explore, in a preliminary manner, the relationship between the demographic diversity Dienesch, 1994, p. 766). When customers benefit from the
POB of employees, they are likely to be more satisfied with of work units and the POB of their members. We first develop a conceptual framework suggesting how the demographic di-the organization (Brief and Motowidlo, 1986). Employees
en-gaged in POB may become sensitive to the discretionary as- versity of work units is related to prosocial organizational behavior. We then conduct an exploratory test of the theory pects of their jobs (Karambayya, 1990), thereby gaining a
sense of empowerment and motivation. In addition, in the using data from multiple work units in a consumer-products organization. Because the relevant targets of prosocial behavior process of seeking solutions to customers’, co-workers’, or
other POB targets’ problems, employees may uncover critical may differ across organizational settings, it is important in POB research to identify and study those behaviors that are areas for organizational improvement.
relevant and considered prosocial in the research site (Organ, Although most previous studies have conceptualized POB
1988). We, therefore, focus on a type of prosocial organiza-as an individual-level phenomenon (e.g., O’Reilly and
Chat-tional behavior that researchers (George and Bettenhausen, man, 1986; Puffer, 1987), several scholars (e.g., George and
1990; Kizilos and Cummings, 1994) and our own observa-Bettenhausen, 1990; Organ, 1988) have argued that POB is
tions suggest are particularly relevant to consumer-products also meaningful at higher levels of analysis. More specifically,
organizations:customer-oriented POB.This refers to discretion-they have advocated examining the POB tendencies of work
ary and helpful behavior directed toward customers who are units (organizations or subunits). Organ (1988) suggested
either internal to the firm (i.e., end-users within the same that it is the aggregate of prosocial behaviors that makes a
organization) or external to it. Customer-oriented POB can difference, because most POBs, taken singly, are modest or
involve either in-role or extra-role efforts that are understood trivial. He offered the example of voting to illustrate his point.
to provide customers with a genuine benefit (Brief and Motow-A single vote by a single person (let us hope there are not idlo, 1986; George and Bettenhausen, 1990; Kizilos and Cum-many cases of a large number of votes by a single person) is mings, 1994).
trivial, except in the most extraordinary and unforeseeable situations. Yet in the aggregate, voting by the electorate
Conceptual Framework
sustains the democratic system.Recently, Milliken and Martins (1996, p. 403) noted that, At the work-unit level, POB is a particularly promising
in classifying different types of demographic diversity, “one candidate for organizational demography research. First,
unit-common distinction is between diversity on observable or level behaviors tend to be at least partially explained by
work-readily detectable attributessuch as race or ethnic background, unit characteristics (George and Bettenhausen, 1990);
demog-age, or gender, and diversity with respect to less visible or raphy is such a characteristic. Second, the demography of a
underlying attributessuch as education, technical abilities, ten-work unit is one indicator of the similarity of unit members,
ure in the organization, or socioeconomic background . . .”. and similarity has been linked to helping behavior in prior
Furthermore, many of the nonobservable types of diversity research. Dovidio (1984) reviewed over 25 studies suggesting
constitute “diversity of skills or knowledge (e.g., educational that similarity on such nondemographic variables as opinions,
background, functional background, occupational background, attitudes, and dress is associated with such helping behavior
range of industry experience)”(p. 404). Along the same lines, as signing a petition, mailing a stamped letter, or picking up
Pelled (1996) argued that demographic diversity variables may dropped materials. The typical explanation for these findings
be placed along two continua. First,job-relatednessis the extent was that similarity leads to feelings of “we-ness” (i.e., closeness
to which a demographic diversity variable shapes job skills or identification), which encourage helping behavior. Given
and captures experiences relative to cognitive tasks in the the results of these studies, it is reasonable to expect that
workplace. Second, visibility is the extent to which demo-demographic similarity among work-unit members may have
graphic diversity is easily observed. Both properties can help a similar affect on prosocial organizational behavior.
Presum-account for the workplace consequences of a particular demo-ably, demographichomogeneityamong members leads to
feel-graphic diversity variable. Here, we argue that demofeel-graphic ings of closeness, which, in turn, enhance members’
propen-diversity may either promote or impede work-unit POB, de-sity to engage in POB. The relationship between demography
pending upon the job-relatedness and visibility of the particu-and POB may not be so straightforward, however. Because
lar diversity variable under consideration. POB refers towork-relatedhelp, it is likely to demand a greater
variety of skills and knowledge than simple helping behaviors,
Diversity as Promoter of Customer-Oriented POB
such as mailing a stamped letter require. Demographic
different priorities, assumptions about future events, and un- to a demographic attribute that is low in job-relatedness, then their divergent belief structures based on that attribute may derstandings of alternatives), based on their distinct
experi-not pertain to the work they do, and opposing task perceptions ences (Hambrick and Mason, 1984, p. 195; Wiersema and
may not develop. In contrast, if work-unit members differ Bantel, 1992). Consequently, they are likely to have different
with respect to a highly job-related demographic attribute, interpretations of tasks and work situations (Dearborn and
then their divergent belief structures based on that attribute Simon, 1958; Walsh, 1988; Waller, Huber, and Glick, 1995).
are likely to be pertinent to their work, and incongruent task These different interpretations tend to manifest themselves as
perceptions are likely to emerge (Pelled, Eisenhardt, and Xin, task-related discourse or debates within the work unit (Bantel
in press). Thus, job-related types of demographic diversity in and Jackson, 1989; Sessa and Jackson, 1995). Such discourse
a work unit are more likely than nonjob-related types to trigger can contribute to customer-oriented POB, as members strive
the task-related exchanges that benefit customer-oriented POB. to reconcile their dissimilar views about tasks. This exchange
of information can lead to a better understanding of task
issues (Bantel and Jackson, 1989); members may gain greater
Diversity as Impediment to
knowledge about the organization, its products, scheduling,
Customer-Oriented POB
and customers’ preferences. As a result, the unit as a whole Demographic diversity can also be a liability to work units. will be more capable of helping customers, because managing As work units become more diverse, members must organize relationships with customers requires members to: a greater amount of information about each other; hence, they
are more likely to use cognitive tools that help them cope with collect, process, and dispatch an inordinate amount of
an overload of information. One such tool iscategorization, the information . . . . [They] need to find out information
tendency for individuals to organize information about others about those customers and prospects, especially about their
by classifying them into social categories based on demo-felt or undemo-felt needs and problems, their buying processes,
graphic or other attributes (Turner, 1982). According to social their objectives and constraints. They need to process this
identity theory, people are motivated to maintain a favorable information and integrate it with information they have
self-image; thus, upon placing themselves and others into already collected or will collect from their own organization
categories, they tend to make between-category comparisons about product specification, prices, delivery times, and
that provide themselves with a positive social identity; that maintenance. (Darmon, 1992, p. 13)
is, “knowledge of his or her memberships in social groups Tjosvold, Dann, and Wong (1992) found that an exchange together with the emotional significance of that knowledge” of differing ideas among departments tends to enhance an (Turner and Giles, 1981, p. 24). Specifically, individuals tend organization’s customer service, a construct that has consider- to favor their own category and to perceive its members as able overlap with customer-oriented POB. As Spencer and superior while stereotyping and developing a hostile attitude Spencer (1993, p. 42) have pointed out, a component of toward members of other categories. Hence, work-unit diver-customer-service competence is “initiative (discretionary ef- sity may encourage antagonism among unit members. fort) to help or serve” the customer, including “taking routine Work-unit diversity may also be associated with intra-unit or required actions” to meet customers’ needs as well as “going anxiety (Stephan and Stephan, 1985). Often, individuals have out of the way to be helpful.” Although having the ability to more exposure to persons in their own social category than help does not guarantee prosocial behavior, research suggests to persons in other social categories. Consequently, they may that when individuals feel more competent and capable of view dissimilar coworkers as less predictable and may experi-undertaking particular actions, they are more likely to perform ence anxiety (e.g., concern about appropriate behavior) those actions (Bandura, 1986). Moreover, people are more around them.
required to understand customer needs and to integrate infor- more complete assessment—in particular, further research examining not only demographic and POB variables, but also mation for the benefit of customers.
In addition, negative emotions arising from work-unit di- the sociopsychological processes that link those variables. versity may reduce members’ opportunities to behave
proso-cially with customers. Because negative affect makes people
Sample and Data Collection
less attractive and approachable (Coyne, 1976), customers This study included data from multiple work units of a firm may be reluctant to interact with and to seek help from em- that manufactures, markets, and distributes nonalcoholic bev-ployees experiencing the anxiety and tension associated with erages. The company’s domestic operations encompass a total intra-unit diversity. Consequently, a decrease in customer- of 248 locations, each typically including all of the functions oriented POB may occur. necessary for the sales and distribution of the firm’s products. Certain types of diversity are more likely to diminish cus- Not all locations have production facilities on site, but those tomer-oriented POB than others, depending upon their visibil- that do also have their own sales and distribution capabilities. ity. Demographic attributes that fall higher along the visibility The location itself is the focal level of analysis in this study, and continuum are more likely to be used as a basis for categoriza- hereafter, is referred to as awork unit.Considering locations as tion. It takes relatively little effort to use easily observed attri- work units is consistent with Tsui, Egan,ans O’Reilly’s (1992, butes as categories, because such attributes are highly accessi- p. 560) approach, in which work units were “the lowest-level ble (Tsui, Egan, and O’Reilly, 1992). People can quickly operating units in which the actual production of goods or identify a highly visible attribute and use it to classify others, delivery of services to customers occurred.”
even if they have never spoken with (or about) them; the Our sources of data on work units included personnel process is essentially automatic. In contrast, people must gen- records and questionnaires administered to employees on an erally make inquiries to identify less visible attributes. Thus, annual basis by the company. Data were available from 233 out highly visible types of demographic diversity are more likely of 248 units. We used 223 of these in our sample, excluding 10 to be associated with categorization and its accompanying units whose inter-rater (i.e., interemployee) agreement scores intra-unit tensions. Ultimately, then, highly visible types of for customer-oriented POB fell below an acceptable criterion work-unit diversity will have a stronger tendency than less for aggregating individual-level scores to the work-unit level. visible types to impede customer-oriented POB. (Aggregation of data is discussed more fully within the Mea-sures section.) The final sample of 223 work units had an
Predictions
average size of 98 employees (s.d. 117). Within each work unit sampled, we excluded survey data from those respondents The above theory and research suggest that, based on thewho did not complete the customer-oriented POB scale. Thus, job-relatedness and visibility properties, we can predict how
although we used company records (demographic) data from demography variables will relate to customer-oriented POB.
all of the employees in the 223 work units, we used survey Variables high in job-relatedness and low in visibility should
data (items measuring POB) from 74 % of those employees. be positively related to customer-oriented POB. Variables high
In the average work unit, the mean age of unit members in visibility and low in job-relatedness should be negatively
was 35 years, and the mean tenure of unit members was 8 related to customer-oriented POB. Formally stated,
years. The percentage of minorities in the average work unit H1: Demography variables high in job-relatedness and low was 15 %, and the percentage of women was 8 %. The average
in visibility will have positive associations with
cus-work unit had 74 % of its employees in sales, 24 % in produc-tomer-related prosocial organizational behavior.
tion, and another 2 % in support functions, including market-ing, human resources, and finance/accounting.
H2: Demography variables high in visibility and low in job-relatedness will have negative associations with
customer-oriented prosocial organizational behavior.
Measures
DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY. The demographic variables exam-ined in this study included functional background, company
Exploratory Study
“Although age similarity may produce similarity in general 10 members has three females and seven males, thenP1equals
0.3 andP2equals 0.7.Hthen equals 0.61.
attitudes about work . . . , such attitudinal similarity is unlikely to have much direct bearing on conversations about technical
CUSTOMER-ORIENTED POB. The dependent variable in this work.”
study, customer-oriented prosocial behavior, was formed us-On the visibility continuum, the relative positions of these
ing five items from the firm’s questionnaire. The items asked demographic variables differed. We categorized age, race, and
about unit members’ perceptions of the extent to which their gender as highly visible, because, in regard to the perceptual
co-workers: (1) come up with good ideas to exceed what the salience of demographic variables, these physiological features
customer says she or he wants; (2) act on their ideas to are more likely to be visible than other demographic attributes.
exceed customer expectations; (3) resolve customer problems For example, Tsui,Egan, and O’Reilly (1992, p. 557) stated,
immediately; (4) anticipate customers’ future needs; and (5) “Age, sex, and race, because they are easily observable, are
are willing to adapt to meet the changing needs of customers. more accessible characteristics than company tenure.”
Simi-Response anchors were as follows: 15strongly disagree; 25
larly, Fiske and Taylor (1991) suggested that age, race, and
disagree; 35 have mixed feelings; 45 agree; 55strongly gender are more easily perceived than other attributes; such
agree. Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.88. Table 1 shows physical features “are not only visually accessed but also they
the correlations among the scale items. are present immediately in face-to-face interactions” (p.145).
Calculations of within-unit perceptual agreement justified Conversely, we classfied company tenure and functional
back-aggregation of these items to obtain a work-unit measure of ground variables as low in visibility because neither can be
POB (Schneider and Bowen, 1985). Using James, Demaree, determined with certainty nor closely estimated immediately
and Wolf’s (1984) measure, 223 units (out of 233 for which upon looking at a person.
data were available) had within-unit agreement scores of at We obtained data on employee age, gender, race, company
least 0.70. James and his colleagues (1984) indicated that tenure, and functional background from corporate personnel
within-setting agreement scores of 0.70 or above provide em-records. We then measured the demographic diversity of each
pirical justification for aggregation. work unit with respect to the numeric data (age and company
tenure) using the coefficient of variation (standard deviation WORK UNIT SIZE. In examining the demography–POB rela-within a work unit divided by the mean rela-within that work tionship, we controlled for work-unit size obtained from per-unit). Upon comparing heterogeneity measures for numeric sonnel records. Work-unit size tends to be associated with data, Allison (1978, p. 877) concluded that for “variables like greater demographic diversity. In addition, people are less age, where utility is neither strictly increasing nor especially likely to help others as the number of other people present relevant, the flat sensitivity of the coefficient of variation makes increases, because such presence provides an individual with more opportunity to diffuse responsibility (Darley and Latane´, it the appropriate choice.” For the categorical variables (race,
1968; Latane´ and Nida, 1981; Latane´, Nida, and Wilson, gender, and functional background), demographic diversity
1981). Thus, work-unit size is likely to be negatively related was measured using an entropy-based index recommended
to prosocial organizational behavior. by Teachman (1980)[Equation (1)].
H5 2
o
Ii51
Pi(1nPi) (1)
Results
Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations, and correla-This index takes into account how work-unit members are tions among the variables in this study. Table 3 presents distributed among possible categories of a variable. The total results of the regression analysis that we used to examine the number of categories of a variable equals I, and PI is the proposed relationship between demography and
customer-fraction of unit members falling into categoryI.For example, oriented POB.
the gender variable has two possible states or categories (52): Our conceptual framework suggested that demographic variables high in job-relatedness and low in visibility would “1” corresponds to female and “2” to male. If a given team of
Table 1. Correlations among Items in the Customer-Oriented POB Scale
Items 1 2 3 4 5
1. Come up with good ideas to exceed what the customer says he/she wants ——
2. Act on ideas to exceed customer expectations 0.69 ——
3. Resolve customer problems immediately 0.53 0.59 ——
4. Anticipate customers’ future needs 0.57 0.60 0.62 ——
5. Willing to adapt to meet the changing needs of our customers 0.54 0.58 0.58 0.58 ——
Table 2. Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations among Study Variables
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Customer-oriented prosocial behavior 3.73 0.20 ——
2. Work-unit size 97.62 117.31 20.19 ——
3. Race diversity 0.37 0.32 20.11 0.50 ——
4. Gender diversity 0.26 0.15 20.16 0.50 0.31 ——
5. Age diversity 0.25 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.04 0.06 ——
6. Company tenure diversity 0.90 0.21 0.12 0.04 0.43 0.05 0.33 ——
7. Functional background diversity 0.48 0.28 0.02 0.63 0.36 0.42 0.14 0.04 ——
|r|>.10 indicates significance atp,0.10, one-tailed.
|r|>.15 indicates significance atp,0.05, one-tailed.
be positively related to customer-oriented POB. Results were atic (Kennedy, 1979; Tsui, Ashford, St. Clair, and Xin, 1995). None of the correlations reached that magnitude. Second, we consistent with this proposed relationship. Functional
back-ground diversity had a significant positive association (b 5 examined the variance inflation factor (VIF) of each indepen-dent variable. The VIF indicates how much the standard error 0.26, p , 0.01) with the customer-oriented POB of work
units, as did company tenure diversity (b 50.16,p,0.05). of a regression estimate’s variance is increased by the inclusion The converse proposal, that demographic variables high of other predictors (Neter, Wasserman, and Kutner, 1989; in visibility and low in job-relatedness would be negatively Suitor and Pillemer, 1996). It equals 1/(1-R2), whereR2is the
related to customer-oriented POB, received partial support. amount of variation in a predictor variable that is accounted Gender diversity had a significant negative association (b 5 for by other predictor variables. According to Guo, Chumlea,
20.12,p ,0.05) with the customer-oriented POB of work and Cockram (1996), a rule of thumb is that a VIF exceeding units; race diversity was also negatively related to POB (b 5 10 means that multicollinearity is affecting the regression
esti-20.11), but at a marginal significance level slightly over 0.10. mates. The largest VIF we found was only 2.2, providing The results showed no support for the proposed negative further evidence that multicollinearity was not a problem in association between age diversity and customer-oriented POB. this study.
We performed several checks to assess whether multicollin-earity among the independent variables was a problem in our
Discussion
analysis. First, we reviewed the zero-order correlations shownin Table 1. Although there is no definitive criterion for the Despite the prevalence of diversity in organizations and the level of correlation that signals multicollinearity, the general importance of prosocial organizational behavior, there has rule of thumb is that correlations of 0.75 or larger are problem- been relatively little attempt to link these two constructs. To address this gap in knowledge, we developed a conceptual framework that suggests how different types of demographic
Table 3. Regression of Customer-oriented POB on Diversity and
Control Variables diversity relate to customer-oriented POB. The findings are generally consistent with the relationships proposed in the
Dependent Variablea
framework. Demography variables that were high in
job-relat-Customer-Oriented
edness and low in visibility were positively associated with
Independent Variables Prosocial Behavior
customer-oriented POB, and demography variables that were low in job-relatedness and high in visibility were, for the most
Control variable b b t
Work-unit size 0.000 20.247 22.58* part, negatively associated with customer-oriented POB. Predictor variables These preliminary findings lend credence to our conceptual
Race diversity 20.068 20.107 21.24†
framework and suggest that a more complete assessment of
Gender diversity 20.173 20.125 21.65*
the demography–POB relationship is warranted. Building on
Age diversity 0.002 0.030 0.43
Company tenure diversity 0.002 0.162 2.05* these results, a logical next step would be to measure and
Functional background analyze intervening process variables, such as task debates diversity 0.187 0.257 3.04** and negative affect, that are likely to underlie this linkage. This
Constant 3.57 0.00
would shed light on the “black box” between demographic
R2 0.11***
diversity and workplace outcomes (Lawrence, 1997). A second
F 4.26
df 233 fruitful area for subsequent research is to examine moderators
of diversity–POB relationships, thus extending our framework
† approximately significant at .10 level. to a contingency model. For example, diversity training pro-*p,0.05; **p,0.01; ***p,0.001.
Bantel, K. A., and Jackson, S. E.: Top Management and Innovations
diversity on customer-oriented POB. A third promising study
in Banking: Does the Composition of the Top Management Team
would be examination of the relationship between work-unit
Make a Difference? Strategic Management Journal 10 (Summer
demography and other prosocial behaviors. A given type of 1989): 107–124. demography may, for example, have a different association
Brief, A. P., and Motowidlo, S. J.: Prosocial Organizational Behaviors.
with prosocial behavior toward co-workers than it has with Academy of Management Review11 (4, 1986): 710–725. prosocial behavior toward customers. On a related note, a Bryan, J. H., and Test, M. A.: Models and Helping: Naturalistic Studies more refined treatment of customer-oriented POB is needed. in Aiding Behavior.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology6(4) Future studies of demography and POB could benefit from 1967): 400–407.
distinguishing between intrarole and extrarole customer-ori- Clore, G. L., Schwarz, N., and Conway, M.: Affective Causes and ented POB or between “organizationally consistent” and “orga- Consequences of Social Information Processing, inHandbook of Social Cognition, vol.1: Basic Processes, R. S. Wyer, Jr. and T. K.
nizationally inconsistent” customer-oriented POBs (Brief and
Srull, eds., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ. 1994,
Motowidlo, 1986, p. 713).
pp. 323–417.
Several nuances of our study limit conclusions that can be
Conway, M., Giannopoulos, C., Csank, P., and Mendelson, M.:
Dys-drawn from the findings and suggest how future research
phoria and Specificity in Self-Focused Attention.Personality and should be conducted. First, because the data were cross sec- Social Psychology Bulletin19(4) (1993): 265–268.
tional, they limit our ability to infer causality. Second, the
Coyne, J. C.: Depression and The Response of Others. Journal of work units in our sample all belonged to a single parent Abnormal Psychology85(2) (1976): 186–193.
corporation in the nonalcoholic beverage industry; it is, there- Darley, J. M., and Latane´, B.: Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: fore, difficult to know whether the results would hold in Diffusion of Responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psy-different types of organizations. Third, in our study, diversity chology8(4) (1968): 377–383.
variables that were highly job-related happened to be low Darmon, R. Y.: Effective Human Resource Management in the Sales Force.Quorum Books, Westport, CT. 1992.
in visibility, and diversity variables that were low in
job-relatedness were high in visibility. If we were to focus on Dearborn, D. C., and Simon, H. A.: Selective Perception: A Note on the Department Identifications of Executives. Sociometry (June
another set of diversity variables, however, we might find that
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some are high (or low) in both properties (i.e., visibility and
Dovidio, J. R.: Helping Behavior and Altruism: An Empirical and
job-relatedness). These limitations suggest that future research
Conceptual Overview, inAdvances in Experimental Social Psycholo-in this area would benefit from longitudPsycholo-inal data, examPsycholo-ination
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Ellis, H. C., and Ashbrook, P. W.: Resource Allocation Model of the
In conclusion, the current study—although exploratory in Effects of Depressed Mood States on Memory, inAffect, Cognition, nature—makes significant contributions. Of these, the most and Social Behavior, K. Fiedler and J. Forgas, eds., C. J. Hogrefe, substantial is the integration of two important, yet relatively Toronto. 1988, pp. 25–43.
independent, streams of research. The study enhances knowl- Fiske, S. T., and Taylor, S. E.:Social Cognition.McGraw-Hill, New York. 1991.
edge of prosocial organizational behavior by identifying
orga-nizational demography as a significant correlate of customer- George, J., and Bettenhausen, K.: Understanding Prosocial Behavior, Sales Performance, and Turnover: A Group-Level Analysis in a
oriented POB. Conversely, it adds to our understanding of
Service Context.Journal of Applied Psychology75(6) (1990): 698–
organizational demography by examining an outcome variable
709.
that demography researchers have not previously examined.
George, J. M., and Brief, A. P.: Feeling Good–Doing Good: A
Concep-In doing so, the study incorporates a broader set of diversity
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variables than most prior demography studies have incorpo- Relationship.Psychological Bulletin112(2) (1992): 310–329. rated. This investigation also contributes by supporting the
Guo, S. S., Chumlea, W. C., and Cockram, D. B.: Use of Statistical
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Ingram, R. E.: Self-Focused Attention in Clinical Disorders: Review
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