Human Relations Call for Papers for Special Issue: Polarization and the Changing World of Organizations – New Challenges and Perspectives

Introduction and context

Polarization is on the rise in nearly all democratic countries (Kubin & Von Sikorski, 2021). Polarization refers to “the extent to which citizens become ideologically entrenched in their own values and beliefs, increasing the divide with citizens who hold different values and political beliefs” (p.2, van Prooijen, 2021), causing animosities among citizens about key societal topics such as immigration policies, vaccination, and global warming (van Prooijen, 2021). In matters of high societal relevance, over the past decade opinions tend to increasingly cluster along the two ends of a continuum that ranges from conservative to liberal views (Scholtz, 2024). In line with Social Identity Theory polarization emerges because people strive to define themselves through their belonging to a group, powering in-group positive bias and out-group hostility, and over time it increasingly shapes extreme positions. The widespread “us vs them” mentality, along these two poles harms social cohesion in the public and private space (Benson, 2023) and is spilling over to the work floor (Swigart et al., 2020; Javidan et al., 2023). Whereas the political divide that can be roughly mapped (with some degree of similarity across the globe) in terms of left vs. right or liberal vs. conservative can provide a general framework of the clustering of individual preferences on social values and political views, this politically based distinction or lens is not entirely identical across counties. We therefore view polarization in terms of opposing social values and views, without tying them to the political spectrum. This raises questions such as ‘what happens when individuals with opposing views (e.g., on vaccination or societal order) need to work together as a team in challenging circumstances (e.g., during an epidemic or political crises)?’. Polarization is notoriously challenging to manage in the public space (Singer et al., 2019) and is likely to cause division and resentment in organizations and especially in teams too. Because teams are “social arenas” that provide direct and frequent opportunities for interpersonal interactions, this special issue aims to explore how polarization unfolds in these meso-level organizational structures.

Teams are diverse social eco-systems characterized by high levels of social interdependency (i.e., “individuals share common goals and the outcomes of each person are affected by the actions of others”, Deutsch, 1994). As such, these workplaces and organizational platforms where people connect and engage in interactions are particularly vulnerable to polarization and could quickly become an arena for conflicts, hostility, and counterproductive behaviours that typically trigger absenteeism and sick absence (Javidan et al., 2023). From a diversity perspective, heterogeneity in social views and ideologies constitutes deep-level diversity (i.e., diversity in values and beliefs) that can trigger separation among inter and intra-organizational teams and collaborative units. Separation in turn is known to jeopardize collaborations and to disrupt team and organizational performance (Harrison & Klein, 2007). While the profound effects of polarization on democratic processes and society are undeniable and have attracted considerable research attention (Scholtz, 2024), remarkably little theoretical and empirical work has explored the potential threats polarized views may pose to individuals collaborating with others within and across organizational boundaries. Societal polarization reflects ideological divides that often stem from fractures in the socio-political fabric of a nation. They trigger conflicts within communities that can carry over to the work floor and affect professional relationships in teams. Interactions in inter and intra-organizational teams that are marked by exchange of polarized views can shape group dynamics and the functioning of different organizational social systems. Given their high cognitive and emotional potency, polarized interactions carry a fundamental threat to the functioning of groups and communities within as well as between organizations (Petriglieri & Petriglieri, 2022). This means that polarization in the professional arena can have far-reaching consequences, well beyond the boundaries of the organization. Intra- and inter-organizational teams are the social systems in which polarization unfolds across broader organizational platforms such as departments or units, cross-functional collaborations, communities of practice, digital collaboration platforms (e.g., Slack, Teams, internal forums), employee networks or affinity groups and informal coalitions within organizations. This wide reach implies that solutions need to be sought by exploring dyadic and team dynamics tied to polarization, both within and across organizational boundaries. To understand how polarization manifests as a lived work experience, and how it gains legitimacy within organizations, we need a multi-method approach. This may include drawing on phenomenological and epistemic perspectives that can help uncover how different organizational infrastructures and platforms may amplify or mitigate polarization.

Moreover, the very nature of multi-party systems, characterized by multiple interacting actors or factions holding polarized views within and across organizational boundaries, suggests that the range and complexity of issues arising from workplace polarization require coordinated responses.

Addressing these challenges may therefore call for multi-stakeholder governance approaches involving leaders, top management teams, and organizational policymakers. The identified knowledge gap offers promising avenues for future work for several reasons. Divisions within and between organizational teams, driven by polarization can be hard to manage because team members tend to form strong ties with similar, like-minded individuals from inside and outside their workplace that tend to reinforce their societal views (Social Identity Theory, SIT; Tajfel & Turner, 2004), while avoiding and distrusting dissimilar ideologically-minded colleagues (Maclean et al., 2018; Van Knippenberg et al., 2020). It is therefore likely that through interactions within organizations and across organizational platforms polarization will have a detrimental impact on individuals, in their occupational functioning and wellbeing, which is why it is critical to understand how and why polarization emerges and impacts workplace collaborations.

Objectives

This Special Issue on Polarization aims to foster theoretical and empirical scholarly efforts towards connecting organizational theories with the recently growing insights on social polarization. Given the complexity of this issue, multiple dimensions and intersections emerge. Below, we provide examples of potential topics and research directions. While emphasizing inter and intra-organizational team dynamics as a focal point of exploration, the examples of topics should not be considered as restrictive. Given the various influences and relationships across organizational platforms and levels, broader perspectives are deemed relevant. Even though we focus on social interdependencies among individuals in professional groups within and across organizations as insights obtained from managing polarization in work interactions and across organizational platforms may feed forward to suggestions about managing polarization at societal level as well.

This Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of how polarization manifests within teams in organizations and across organizational platforms, its consequences for inter and intra-organizational teams, and the mechanisms through which its negative effects can be amplified and/or mitigated. By integrating insights from organizational behavior, social psychology, political science and work sociology, this collection of research will contribute to both theory and practice, offering valuable guidance for leaders, policymakers, and scholars striving to navigate the challenges of an increasingly polarized world.

Objectives and research questions

Intended conceptual or empirical contributions may seek to examine issues such as, yet, not limited to, the following:

Additional note for contributors

We aim to incorporate the following types of research in the special issue.

Please note that while we aim to include accepted manuscripts in this special issue, there is a possibility that accepted papers may be published in a general issue instead. This ensures timely publication while maintaining the high standards of the journal.

In line with the submission guidelines of Human Relations, we welcome theoretical and empirical contributions. Strong submissions will go beyond description to offer novel insights, advance ongoing scholarly conversations, and demonstrate clear relevance to the SI and the journal’s scope. We encourage empirical contributions that use rigorous and well-justified research designs, including longitudinal, multi-method, and field-based approaches. Contributions that rely on cross-sectional single-source research and also simulation-based studies (e.g., vignette experiments) or papers that solely rely on student samples are unlikely to be suitable. Review papers are not considered unless submitted through the journal’s dedicated call for review articles.

Deadlines

Manuscripts should be uploaded to the ScholarOne and should adhere to the goals and topic of the SI’s call and should follow the submission guidelines of the journal. Authors should indicate in the journal’s submission system and in their cover letter that the manuscript is intended for consideration at the Special Issue on Managing Polarization in Working Teams – New Challenges for Organizations. Manuscripts should be submitted between 1^st May 2027 and 31^st May 2027.

For questions regarding the submission process or other administrative matters, please contact the Editorial Office at humanrelationsjournal@tavinstitute.org. Queries related to expectations, requirements, or the suitability of a proposed topic should be directed to the corresponding guest editor of the special issue Irina Nikolova at i.nikolova@maastrichtuniversity.nl.