Connecting group success to individual achievement: Cross-cultural attributions for group performance

Recent research suggests that groups attribute the causes of their success to factors that are "internal" but internal attributions can vary by the extent to which they emphasize (1) the contributions made by each individual member of the group or they (2) emphasize the group as a whole. Despite the fact that different types of attributions lead to different performance outcomes, there is no research to address the conditions under which people might emphasize one type of attribution over the other. In this paper we extend existing research on attributions for group performance by describing the factors that shift the focus from attributions to the group as a whole to a focus on the unique contributions made by each individual in the group. We propose that people will explain the causes of group performance differently depending on where they stand on the cultural dimensions of individualism- collectivism and power distance. Our predictions are tested in a scenario study conducted in both the United States and India in which participants are given equivalent information about the individuals in the group and about the shared properties of the group as a whole. We conclude by discussing the implications of our results for managing teams in different cultures.