Department of Management
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
2024
Citation
Journal of Applied Psychology (2024) 109(5): 668-686
Abstract
Supervisors struggle to encourage employees to engage in diversity advocacy—key behaviors that help promote more equitable workplaces. Research hints that one reason for this struggle may be that employees lack the empowerment to engage in such behaviors. Drawing on perspectives that conceptualize diversity advocacy as a moral and virtuous behavior, we integrate research on leadership and empowerment to suggest that supervisor integrity can empower observers to engage in diversity advocacy. In exploring boundary conditions, we draw on performance models to counterintuitively suggest that this effect is strongest when employees perceive a negative diversity climate, as employees see the greatest need for change in these contexts. We test our theory in three complementary studies: A field sample with employees, a preregistered experimental vignette study, and an additional preregistered immersive experiment with a behavioral dependent variable. Our results contribute to theory on diversity, empowerment, and organizational climate. Additionally, we make an empirical contribution by developing and validating a four-item diversity advocacy scale.
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commons, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Social Justice Commons
Comments
Copyright 2024, American Psychological Association. Used by permission