The authors elaborate a multilevel model of faultline perceptions across individuals in groups. They develop the concept of individual perceived faultlines and build logic about an individual-level antecedent—expectations for relationship conflict held even before a group is formed. They explain how its impact persists over time to influence individual satisfaction with the group, and how individuals update faultline perceptions in response to common contexts and social processes. Findings indicate that expectations for relationship conflict, despite being held before the group forms, influence individuals’ satisfaction with the group. The effect is mediated by initial and later-stage individual perceived faultlines.

作者阐述了跨群体个人的故障线感知的多层次模型。他们发展了个人感知到的断层线的概念，并建立了关于个体层面的前提条件的逻辑，即对甚至在组织形成之前就存在的关系冲突的期望。他们解释了其影响如何随着时间的流逝而持续存在，以影响个人对小组的满意度，以及个人如何根据常见的环境和社会过程来更新断层线的看法。研究结果表明，尽管在小组成立之前就持有关系冲突的期望，但会影响个人对小组的满意度。这种影响是由初期和后期的个人感知断层所介导的。