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Reaffirming King's Vision: The Power of Participation in Inclusive Diversity Efforts to Benefit Intergroup Outcomes
Author(s) -
Bran Tiffany N.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12273
Subject(s) - diversity (politics) , outgroup , multiculturalism , affirmative action , power (physics) , cultural diversity , closeness , inclusion (mineral) , inequality , social psychology , perception , psychology , sociology , pedagogy , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , anthropology
In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. reaffirmed a vision of integration as “an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity .” Drawing inspiration from King's vision, across two datasets with White and Asian college students ( N = 1,957, N = 1,324), this article finds support for the power of participation in inclusive diversity efforts associated with underrepresented groups (i.e., Latina/o and African Americans) to benefit intergroup attitudes. Specifically, participating in an academic course or activity that involves Latina/o/x or African American culture is related to greater outgroup closeness and more supportive perceptions of policies that address inequality. Perceptions of policies included attitudes toward the merits of affirmative action, use of multicultural (vs. colorblind) approaches to diversity, and endorsement of structural (vs. individual) explanations for inequality. These results held controlling for other types of contact (i.e., outgroup friendships, roommates, interactions), college‐level demographic diversity, and prior intergroup attitudes and diversity exposure. The importance of engagement in inclusive diversity efforts for achieving integration is discussed.