Profiles of diversity and inclusion motivation: Toward an employee-centered understanding of why employees put effort into inclusion and exclusion

Abstract

Despite their prevalence, workplace diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices continue to produce inconsistent effects on employee attitudes and behaviors. This shines a light on the need for evidence-based approaches in understanding how employees enact D&I goals. Drawing on self-determination theory, we argue that employee D&I motivation is an untapped pathway for understanding how inclusion-supportive employee outcomes (i.e., more inclusion and less exclusion) emerge. In addition, we leverage attribution theory to inform when employee motivation can be shaped, demonstrating that employee attributions of the intentions behind their organization's D&I practices play an important role in shaping their subsequent D&I motivation. Across two studies, latent profile analysis identified five distinct profiles of D&I motivation, which were differentially related to inclusion and exclusion (Study 1) and predicted by D&I attributions (Studies 1 and 2). Combined, these findings highlight the importance of understanding employee motivations and attributions within the context of D&I. Such knowledge can inform how employees enact inclusion goals, which has the potential to help organizations realize the desired benefits of diversity.