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Differentiating Diversities: Moral Diversity Is Not Like Other Kinds 1
Author(s) -
Haidt Jonathan,
Rosenberg Evan,
Hom Holly
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb02071.x
Subject(s) - diversity (politics) , multiculturalism , affirmative action , social psychology , identity (music) , cultural diversity , immigration , politics , social identity theory , psychology , sociology , epistemology , political science , social group , law , philosophy , aesthetics , pedagogy , anthropology
Diversity is widely celebrated in American society. But from a social psychological point of view, diversity ought to cause a number of problems, such as divisiveness and conflict. A resolution of this paradox is proposed: There are several kinds of diversity, with different profiles of costs and benefits. In particular, moral diversity is identified as being problematic and even self‐contradictory. Three studies of attitudes and desires for interaction among college students confirmed that moral diversity reduces desires for interaction more than does demographic diversity, and that both kinds of diversity are valued more in a classroom than in other social settings. These findings have important implications for discussions of diversity, multiculturalism, affirmative action, identity politics, and immigration policy.