Supervisor Integrity Empowers Employees to Advocate for Diversity in Problematic Climates

Supervisors struggle to encourage employees to engage in diversity advocacy-key behaviors that help promote more equitable workplaces. Research hints that one reason for this struggle may be that employees lack the empowerment to engage in such behaviors. Drawing on perspectives that conceptualize diversity advocacy as a moral and virtuous behavior, we integrate research on leadership and empowerment to suggest that supervisor integrity can empower observers to engage in diversity advocacy. In exploring boundary conditions, we draw on performance models to counterintuitively suggest that this effect is strongest when employees perceive a negative diversity climate, as employees see the greatest need for change in these contexts. We test our theory in three complementary studies: A field sample with employees, a preregistered experimental vignette study, and an additional preregistered immersive experiment with a behavioral dependent variable. Our results contribute to theory on diversity, empowerment, and organizational climate. Additionally, we make an empirical contribution by developing and validating a four-item diversity advocacy scale.

Automated summary

This study explores the struggle supervisors face in encouraging employees to engage in diversity advocacy, and suggests that a lack of empowerment may be one reason for this struggle. The study finds that supervisor integrity can empower observers to engage in diversity advocacy, particularly when employees perceive a negative diversity climate. Through three complementary studies, the theory is tested and a four-item diversity advocacy scale is developed and validated.