Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Psychol Sci. 2012 Mar;23(3):303-9. doi: 10.1177/0956797611426727. Epub 2012 Feb 24.
We propose that diversity is a malleable concept capable of being used either to attenuate or to enhance racial inequality. The research reported here suggests that when people are exposed to ambiguous information concerning an organization's diversity, they construe diversity in a manner consistent with their social-dominance motives. Specifically, anti-egalitarian individuals broaden their construal of diversity to include nonracial (i.e., occupational) heterogeneity when an organization's racial heterogeneity is low. By contrast, egalitarian individuals broaden their construal of diversity to include nonracial heterogeneity when an organization's racial heterogeneity is high. The inclusion of occupational heterogeneity in perceptions of diversity allows people across the spectrum of social-dominance orientation to justify their support for or opposition to hierarchy-attenuating affirmative-action policies. Our findings suggest that diversity may not have a fixed meaning and that, without a specific delineation of what the concept means in particular contexts, people may construe diversity in a manner consistent with their social motivations.
我们提出，多样性是一个可塑的概念，可以用来减轻或加剧种族不平等。这里报告的研究表明，当人们接触到有关组织多样性的模棱两可的信息时，他们会根据自己的社会支配动机来理解多样性。具体来说，当一个组织的种族异质性较低时，反平等主义者会将多样性的概念扩大到包括非种族（即职业）异质性。相比之下，当一个组织的种族异质性较高时，平等主义者会将多样性的概念扩大到包括非种族异质性。将职业异质性纳入多样性的认知中，使得处于社会支配倾向光谱上的人们都可以为他们支持或反对减少等级的平权行动政策提供理由。我们的研究结果表明，多样性可能没有固定的含义，如果没有具体说明这个概念在特定背景下的含义，人们可能会根据自己的社会动机来理解多样性。
