Minority Dynamics in Faultline Groups: A Longitudinal Study

Being a minority group member often means less power and status as well as strong conformity pressure. At the same time, minority influence can be particularly important to a group’s processes and performance. We used the minority influence and faultline literatures as theoretical lenses for an investigation of the dynamics of minority influence for individuals and groups over a two-week period, predicting that minority members would experience more task conflict and less satisfaction in groups with strong faultlines, particularly for faultline-related tasks early in a group’s development. The results from 55 teams supported our hypotheses and helped identify when and how minority subgroups provide positive contributions.