MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF DIVERSITY CLIMATE ON ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION – IMPORTANCE OF THE PERCEPTION OF INSIDER STATUS

Abstract

A pro-diversity climate has been shown to be crucial to achieving the positive effects of the increasing diversity of work teams (Cox, 1993). Among its expected positive effects, it helps to strengthen employees’ affective states, and in particular their identification with the organization. In this article, we propose to assess the influence of the perception of the work unit’s diversity climate on organizational identification, a relationship that has not yet been explored to any great extent and with mixed results, all the more so in the French context where diversity climate is yet to be empirically studied. We adopt the reconceptualization of diversity climate in 3 dimensions that are intentionality, programming and praxis (Cachat-Rosset et al., 2019), anchored in the organizational climate literature (Schneider & Reichers, 1983) and responding to the theoretical, conceptual and operational inconsistencies of the concept recently raised (Cachat-Rosset et al., 2019; McKay & Avery, 2015). Based on a study administered to French employees in 40 work units, our results show that the perception of work-unit diversity climate positively and significantly influences perceived insider status and organizational identification, and that perceived insider status mediates the diversity climate - organizational identification relationship.