The Effect of Organizational Climate on the Attribution to Discrimination Process

Abstract

Research on the multi-stage attribution to discrimination process (construct accessibility, perceiving, and reporting of discrimination) focuses on individual difference antecedents and tends to examine one stage in each study (e.g. Major et al., 2002; Stangor, Sechrist, & Swim, 1999; Swim & Hyers, 1999). The current study extends research on this process by examining the interactive effect of individual differences and organizational climate on all three stages of the attribution to discrimination process in an organizational simulation study. Findings indicate that Climate for Intolerance for Discrimination interacts with individual based sensitivity to sexism to predict perceptions of discrimination. Furthermore, perceptions of discrimination fully mediate the relationship between the climate by sensitivity interaction and reporting of discrimination to the organization.