Establishing a climate for diversity: The inhibition of prejudiced reactions in the workplace

Abstract

After briefly documenting the continuing problem of racial discrimination in the American workplace, the sources of discrimination were identified. Prejudiced reactions were shown to originate from old-fashioned, blatant racists; non-prejudice persons; and, modern racists. Then, the motivation to inhibit prejudice reactions by each source was examined. Subsequently, three organizational strategies to encourage the inhibition of prejudiced reactions were suggested. Each strategy was described as addressing a particular source (e.g. old-fashioned racists) and failing to be applicable to the other sources. None of the proposed strategies entailed attempting to transform racists into models of racial tolerance. Implications of these ideas for theory and research are examined.

Citation

Brief, A.P. and Barsky, A. (2000), "Establishing a climate for diversity: The inhibition of prejudiced reactions in the workplace", Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-7301(00)19004-8