Psychology Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2801
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Psychological Climate for Diversity: Antecedents and Outcomes(2011) Nag, Monisha; Ostroff, Cheri; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although some research has examined climate for diversity in organizations and its outcomes, little attention has been devoted to the antecedents of individuals' climate for diversity perceptions (psychological climate) or to a broader nomological network. The extent to which individuals have experience with diversity and receive information regarding diversity in an organization from various media were purported to relate to their diversity related climate perceptions, which in turn were proposed to relate to their racial understanding, belonging, ethnic identity, and performance. Further, individuals' race was believed to moderate the antecedent-climate-outcomes relationships. Hypotheses were tested using two samples, 871 newcomers and 688 incumbents, enabling examination of potential differences in relationships between the two. Overall, the proposed model was supported. Psychological climate for diversity partially mediated the exposure to diversity-outcomes relationship, and fully mediated the information regarding diversity-outcomes relationship. However, contrary to expectations, moderation of the antecedent-climate-outcomes relationships by race was weak, and these relationships were largely similar in the two samples.Item Being Different: A Study of Relational Demography and the Influence of Individual and Team Characteristics(2005-11-04) Keller, Kirsten Michelle; Hanges, Paul; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the effects of gender and ethnic dissimilarity to team members on the individual level outcomes of team commitment, turnover intentions, and psychological empowerment. Results provided some support that dissimilarity to one's teammates has the most adverse effects for males and African Americans. In addition, there was some support that ethnic and gender identification and climate for ethnic diversity may be important moderators of this relationship. Specifically, individuals with low ethnic and gender identification felt more empowered when dissimilar to teammates, while individuals with high ethnic and gender identification had similar levels of empowerment regardless of their dissimilarity to teammates. Focusing on the team context, a positive climate for ethnic diversity reduced the negative consequences for individuals who often find themselves in the demographic minority, while, unexpectedly, a low climate for ethnic diversity seemed to heighten feelings of empowerment for individuals more dissimilar to their teammates.