Affirmative Action Support in an Organization

Underpinned by the assumption that people would support affirmativeaction based on self-interests, and/or when they have high job security not to bethreatened by the policy, this study investigated the likelihood that workers woulddifferentially support affirmative action by their demographic attributes. Analyses ofthree demographic models—social, organizational, and combined(social plusorganizational)—were used to determine predictors of support for affirmative action.Findings of the third (combined) model indicated that organizational tenure (anorganizational demographic variable) and educational completion (a social demographicvariable), respectively, were the two strongest predictors of support for affirmativeaction. This study suggested that factors of achievement, rather than race-ethnicity orgender, were the strongest predictors of support for affirmative action. This findingmay be useful to personnel and human resources leaders in designing programs foremployee acceptance of affirmative action programs