ABSTRACT
The world is truly shrinking, as globalizing forces make it commonplace for people of diverse cultural backgrounds to work under the same roof. Migration has also led to ethnic diversity in many countries. While intercultural contact has become a frequent event in many corners of the world, academic research lags behind this social reality. Gelfand, Erez, and Aycan (2007) recently noted that the comparative perspective has dominated the field of cross-cultural organizational psychology. While the literature on cultural similarities and differences in the workplace is extensive, we know relatively little about the dynamics of intercultural contact. It is well documented that such dynamics have major impact on work outcomes in culturally diverse work teams (e.g., Earley & Gibson, 2002).
