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That’s Not Fair! How Personal Value for Diversity Influences Reactions to the Perceived Discriminatory Treatment of Minorities

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Abstract

Using Leventhal’s (Social exchange: Advances in theory and research, Plenum Press, New York, 1980) rules of procedural justice as well as deontic justice (Folger in Research in social issues in management, Information Age, Greenwich, CT, 2001), we examine how personal value for diversity moderates the negative relationship between perceived discrimination against minorities (i.e., racial minorities and females) at work and the perceived procedural justice of minorities’ treatment by the organization. Through a field survey of 190 employees, we found that observers high in personal value for diversity have stronger negative reactions to the mistreatment of women and racial minorities than observers low in personal value for diversity. These findings support and extend the deontic justice perspective because those who personally value diversity had the strongest negative reactions toward the discriminatory treatment of minorities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management and Human Resources Department, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, 975 University Avenue, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    María del Carmen Triana

  2. Department of Marketing and Management, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79968-5348, USA

    María Fernanda Wagstaff

  3. Korea University Business School, LG-POSCO 323, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, 136-701, South Korea

    Kwanghyun Kim

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  1. María del Carmen Triana
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  2. María Fernanda Wagstaff
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  3. Kwanghyun Kim
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Correspondence to María del Carmen Triana.

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Triana, M.C., Wagstaff, M.F. & Kim, K. That’s Not Fair! How Personal Value for Diversity Influences Reactions to the Perceived Discriminatory Treatment of Minorities. J Bus Ethics 111, 211–218 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1202-0

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