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Linkages Between Racioethnicity, Appraisal Reactions, and Employee Engagement
Author(s) -
VOLPONE SABRINA D.,
AVERY DEREK R.,
McKAY PATRICK F.
Publication year - 2012
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.1559-1816.2011.00877.x
Subject(s) - psychology , disadvantaged , diversity (politics) , social psychology , perception , employee engagement , ethnic group , exploratory research , sample (material) , performance appraisal , public relations , political science , sociology , management , social science , chemistry , chromatography , neuroscience , law , economics
Because diversity is vital to many businesses, it is important to understand prospective racioethnic differences in employee engagement. Using survey data collected from a large ( N = 5,537), diverse sample of retail employees, we found that more favorable appraisal reactions corresponded with more favorable psychological diversity climate perceptions; thus, higher levels of engagement. This indirect relationship was significantly stronger for ethnic minority employees (Blacks and Hispanics) than for White employees, indicating that members of traditionally disadvantaged groups respond differently to perceptions of appraisal systems. Finally, an exploratory assessment found that the hypothesized effects for racioethnicity do not generalize to sex, as the indirect effect of appraisal reactions on engagement was slightly, but not significantly stronger for women than for men.