The Role of Cultural Value Dimensions In Relational Demography

This paper examines how cultural value dimensions affect processes related to social identity theory and relational demography. Gender differentiation, individualism/collectivism, and power distance are each positioned as important variables that have the potential to impact the level of salience for particular social identity characteristics. The value dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and long-term/short-term orientation are each positioned as contextual variables, moderating the relationships between demographic dissimilarity and outcomes related to bias and discrimination. The framework presented should have implications for future research in relational demography and assist managers in their attempt to understand individual differences in organisations.