Drawing from tenets of self-determination theory, we propose and test a multilevel model that examines the effects of employee involvement climate on the individual-level process linking employee regulatory focus (promotion and prevention) to innovation via thriving. Using data collected at three points in time from 346 participants in 75 groups, multilevel path analytic results demonstrated support for a positive indirect effect from promotion focus to innovation via thriving and a negative indirect effect from prevention focus to innovation via thriving. In addition, results showed a positive indirect effect from employee involvement climate to innovation via thriving. Perhaps most important, cross-level moderated mediation results demonstrated that employee involvement climate strengthens the relationship between promotion focus and thriving, which, in turn, positively relates to innovation. The theoretical and practical implications of these multilevel effects on innovation are discussed.

As the demographic composition of organizations in the United States rapidly shifts, such that minority groups are becoming the numerical and economic majority, organizations are grappling with ways to manage diversity in the workplace. The two forms of diversity initiatives most frequently implemented in organizations—colorblindness and multiculturalism—have clear benefits; however, each also contributes to feelings of exclusion by different organizational members. In this article, the authors describe problematic issues raised by these two approaches to diversity and offer an alternative perspective—all-inclusive multiculturalism, or the AIM model. The authors posit that AIM serves as a catalyst for positive and effective organizational change through the development of social capital and positive relationships at work and enables organizational members to grow to their fullest potential.

In an analysis of data on employment in the 48 contiguous United States from 1978 to 2008, we examine the connection between organizational demography and rising income inequality at the state level. Drawing on research on social comparisons and firm boundaries, we argue that large firms are susceptible to their employees making social comparisons about wages and that firms undertake strategies, such as wage compression, to help ameliorate their damaging effects. We argue that wage compression affects the distribution of wages throughout the broader labor market and that, consequently, state levels of income inequality will increase as fewer individuals in a state are employed by large firms. We hypothesize that the negative relationship between large-firm employment and income inequality will weaken when large employers are more racially diverse and their workers are dispersed across a greater number of establishments. Our results show that as the number of workers in a state employed by large firms declines, income inequality in that state increases. When these firms are more racially diverse, however, the negative relationship between large-firm employment and income inequality weakens. These results point to the importance of considering how corporate demography influences the dispersion of wages in a labor market.

Social psychology has long held an interest in psychological processes related to the functioning of diverse groups. That interest is now more relevant than ever as populations become increasingly diverse on a number of dimensions, including race and ethnicity. Many liberal democracies are currently struggling with how to manage a diverse society, and similar questions have surfaced in workplace and educational environments. How individuals and the institutions they constitute conceive of diversity has important implications for prejudice and intergroup relations. We argue that these conceptionsin particular what diversity is, with whom diversity is associated, what do to with diversity, and what consequences diversity can have-can be motivated by self-and group-based concerns and are essential to understanding contemporary intergroup processes.A new frontier of diversity-related research sheds light on conceptions of diversity and their theoretical and practical implications. We examine this work in five sections. In the first section, we focus on conceptions of what diversity is. Here our review of the literature suggests that the term's slipperiness and ambiguity make it particularly susceptible to manipulation, especially when individuals are motivated to do so. In the second section, we highlight who is associated with diversity and potential consequences of these associations, again suggesting the ease of shifting representations. In the third section, we review literature on conceptions of what to do with diversity. Here, we focus on common approaches to diversity, including multiculturalism and color-blindness, and again examine evidence for motivated cognition. Our fourth section highlights perceptions of the consequences of addressing diversity, such as perceptions of discrimination, which often depend on individuals' vantage points. Our fifth and final section examines applications and solutions in law, organizations, and education. WHAT IS DIVERSITY?Part of diversity's challenge lies in its definition. What does diversity mean? As depicted in Table 19.1, a wide variety of definitions of diversity exist. They range from citing individual attributes (e.g., personality) to group identity (e.g., race/ethnicity); from a state or condition (e.g., composition) to a process (e.g., a political act, inclusion) to a value or an integral part of organizational identity; and from somewhat specific (e.g., country of origin) to vague (e.g., experiences, backgrounds). The term's complexity, internal contradictions, nebulousness, and slipperiness make it susceptible not only to debate but also to manipulation. In this section, we briefly review the historical background of diversity in the U.S. context and literature on conceptions of diversity. We also explore the motivated aspect of conceptions of diversity, though we recognize that these conceptions can also exist independent of motivation. Where possible, we draw out similarities and distinctions between minority and majority perspectives on diversity.

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