Diversity in cultural diversity research: a scoping review

Cultural diversity has the potential to influence important individual and group outcomes in sport contexts. Prior to examining these relationships, a clear understanding of how cultural diversity is defined and measured is required. Recognizing equivocal findings in relatable domains (organizational psychology), the present study reviewed empirical articles that examined cultural diversity in small group contexts (e.g. sport teams, work groups) to determine how culture-related diversity has been defined and measured, and to identify potential correlates that could subsequently be examined in sport. In total, 109 articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Only 40 articles (37%) clearly defined culture or related terms (e.g. race, ethnicity, nationality). The majority of studies (n = 71, 65%) used mathematical indices or categorical descriptions (n = 29, 27%) for diversity measurement, and some of the most common correlates included group performance (n = 54, 50%), cohesion (n = 10, 9%), and satisfaction (n = 10, 9%). We discuss the importance of providing clear definitions of culture-related terms in future cultural diversity research in sport contexts and elaborate on the consequences of inconsistent categorical measurement. Several future research directions are proposed that consider the transferability of the identified correlates to sport contexts.