The effects of diversity on group productivity and member withdrawal in online volunteer groups

The “wisdom of crowds” argument emphasizes the importance of diversity in online collaborations, such as open source projects and Wikipedia. However, decades of research on diversity in offline work groups have painted an inconclusive picture. On the one hand, the broader range of insights from a diverse group can lead to improved outcomes. On the other hand, individual differences can lead to conflict and diminished performance. In this paper, we examine the effects of group diversity on the amount of work accomplished and on member withdrawal behaviors in the context of WikiProjects. We find that increased diversity in experience with Wikipedia increases group productivity and decreases member withdrawal – up to a point. Beyond that point, group productivity remains high, but members are more likely to withdraw. Strikingly, no such diminishing returns were observed for differences in member interest, which increases productivity and decreases member withdrawal in a linear fash...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Jilin Chen, Yuqing Ren, John Riedl
• Keywords: CHI 2010, Group Productivity, Human Computer Interaction, Individual Differences, Member Withdrawal