Diversity cognition and climates

Demographic diversity at work can yield performance benefits but also invite psychological disengagement and be a source of interpersonal tension. In managing this double-edged sword of demographic diversity, the role of diversity cognition (beliefs, attitudes) and climates seems particularly promising, and in this chapter we take stock of the state of the science in this area. We conclude that research in diversity cognition and climates will benefit from more attention to diversity as a group characteristic to complement the dominant focus on demographic dissimilarity, and from more attention to the potential positive effects of diversity to complement the dominant emphasis on diversity’s potential negative effects. This is a conclusion that by and large holds across the study of individual diversity beliefs and attitudes, individual diversity climate perceptions, and shared diversity climate perceptions.