The Impact of Explanations and Demographic Group Membership: Reactions to Diversity Initiatives

Abstract

In a laboratory experiment, we investigated the impact of procedural explanations and demographic group membership on dependent measures of diversity program support. Our analysis took one important perspective: the examination of work‐force‐diversity programs from the perspective of multiple beneficiary (i. e., targeted) demographic groups. The experiment's design used 99 student volunteers in a 3 × 3 (Explanation × Demographic Group) factorial design. Our findings reveal that both adequate explanation and demographic group membership have a significant impact on how potential work‐forcediversity program beneficiaries expect their coworkers to perceive them. In addition, group membership was a significant predictor of potential beneficiaries' attitudes toward the diversity program and their self‐perceptions of competence. Finally, we discuss implications for future research and diversity practice.