Does Perceived Discrimination Moderate the Impact of Diversity Statements on Pro-Diversity Attitudes and Behaviours?

Ottilie Tilston, Soha Abboud and , Julia Oberlin
University of Lausanne

Abstract

Diversity statements formally declare an organization’s dedication to an inclusive, equitable workplace, often via websites and internal communications. While they can improve perceptions of fairness and prestige, these statements often lack impact on real diversity levels, and pro-diversity behaviours. We propose that an individual’s response to diversity statements is moderated by the level of discrimination they perceive and whether they belong to an advantaged or disadvantaged group. Members of disadvantaged groups usually display little opposition to DEI communications while conversely, members of advantaged groups are more likely to react negatively. This may be because advantaged and disadvantaged groups have different understandings of the nature of discrimination against their group, leading them to ascribe different meanings, that have different psychological and behavioural outcomes. Disadvantaged group members perceive more pervasive (i.e., systematic and widespread) discrimination, that is highly detrimental to their psychological wellbeing, and subsequently strengthens their ingroup identification. They tend to help others like themselves, motivated by perceived similarity. In contrast, members of advantaged groups tend to perceive discrimination as less pervasive (i.e., less severe, more context-dependent and easy to avoid), and so consequently experience less psychological impact. They may experience “reverse discrimination” as a result of entitlement, a psychological mechanism to alleviate guilt about social equalities, or to externalise blame and discount personal deservingness. We therefore propose that the attitudes and behaviour an individual shows in response to a diversity statement is moderated by perceived discrimination levels and whether one belongs to an advantaged or disadvantaged group.

Presentation