Behavioral Goals for a Diverse Organization: The Effects of Attitudes, Social Norms, and Racial Identity for Asian Americans and Whites

  1. Frank Linnehan1,*,
  2. Alison M. Konrad2,
  3. Frieda Reitman3,
  4. Anne Greenhalgh4,
  5. Michael London4

Article first published online: 31 JUL 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01952.x

Issue

Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Volume 33, Issue 7, pages 1331–1359, July 2003

Additional Information

How to Cite

Linnehan, F., Konrad, A. M., Reitman, F., Greenhalgh, A. and London, M. (2003), Behavioral Goals for a Diverse Organization: The Effects of Attitudes, Social Norms, and Racial Identity for Asian Americans and Whites. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33: 1331–1359. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01952.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    LeBow College of Business Drexel University

  2. 2

    Richard Ivey School of Business University of Western Ontario Ontario, Canada

  3. 3

    Lubin School of Business Pace University

  4. 4

    The Wharton School The University of Pennsylvania

* Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Frank Linnehan, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University, 101 North 33rd Street, Academic Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 31 JUL 2006
  2. Article first published online: 31 JUL 2006

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This research identified 5 behaviors that may enhance the effectiveness of a diverse organization and used Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action to identify predictors of these behaviors. Results from samples of White and Asian undergraduate students from 2 universities generally supported the Fishbein and Ajzen model. Attitudes and subjective norms were significant predictors of behavioral intentions when gender, race, and social desirability bias were controlled. Racial identity also had a significant, positive effect on attitudes toward diversity-related behaviors among the Asian American students, but no significant effect among Whites. These results supported our reasoning that members of historically excluded racial groups with strong racial identities will be most likely to welcome organizational attempts to become more pluralistic because pluralism means that their valued identities will be respected rather than repressed.

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