Team diversity, conflict, and trust: Evidence from the health sector

The quality of group interactions in medical problem-based learning in China: the roles of intercultural sensitivity and group ethnic composition

BACKGROUND

Chinese universities are increasingly recruiting foreign students, and problem-based learning (PBL) is an effective approach to integrating those students. This study focuses on the role of intercultural sensitivity and group ethnic composition on the quality of group interaction in medical problem-based learning in China.

METHODS

This paper reports an investigation of the differences in three types of group interaction (exploratory questions, cumulative reasoning, and handling conflict) among 139 s-year medical undergraduates from two backgrounds (Chinese and foreign) in a PBL setting. The roles of intercultural sensitivity, group ethnic composition, and students' personal characteristics including age, gender and ethnicity on students' perceptions of the three types of interaction were quantitatively analyzed. A 35-item questionnaire and demographic survey were administered to second year medical undergraduates.

RESULTS

The results indicated that group ethnic composition was a significant negative predictor while intercultural sensitivity was a strong positive predictor of group interactions involving exploratory questions and cumulative reasoning. In addition, group heterogeneity in terms of age and ethnicity were significant predictors of group interaction.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study provide insights for strategically designing effective multiethnic group learning environments that encourage interaction and collaboration.

Family or otherwise: Exploring the impact of family motivation on job outcomes in collectivistic society

The motive of the current research is to determine the influence of family motivation on intent to leave and job performance using self-determination theory. Moreover, this study also explores the moderating role of collectivistic culture and the mediating role of psychological meaningfulness on the relationship between family motivation and work outcomes. The data (N = 175) were collected from paramedical staff working in Pakistani public hospitals, and data was analyzed using PROCESS method. The findings revealed that family motivation enhanced employee job performance and lessened employees' intent to leave. At the same time, family motivation and psychological meaningfulness are stronger in highly collectivistic cultures compared to less collectivist cultures. This study extends the investigation of the newly developed construct of family motivation by focusing on psychological meaningfulness and collectivistic culture. Moreover, this study is the first to introduce psychological meaningfulness as a mediator and collectivistic culture as a moderator for the relationship between family motivation and employee job outcomes. This study provides several critical insights for the hospitals by exploring the importance of family motivation as a potential motivational resource for maintaining high employee job-performance levels and lessening the intent of employees to leave.