We increasingly want the organizations we deal with to be purpose-driven and to behave in an ethical way. Research from Rice University suggests that we’re more likely to perceive an organization in such a way if they have a diverse workforce.
The study shows that when we view such diversity in a team or an organization, we’re more likely to believe that team will act in a moral way.
A diverse workforce
It’s already well established that a diverse workforce has various organizational benefits, including greater innovation and employee commitment.
“Our findings indicate that the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives by a firm can also provide an unintended additional benefit — that the firm, the management or the CEO can be perceived as more moral,” the researchers say.
The study found that more diverse teams were viewed as being able to encompass a wider range of perspectives. What’s more, in order to reach a consensus, such teams must also take these perspectives into account.
Taking perspectives
The researchers conducted six experiments to examine the role of perspective-taking, and indeed the perception of it among consumers, and how it influenced consumer behavior.
For instance, in one experiment, people were asked to rate a CEO of a homogenous team and a CEO of a diverse team. By and large, the participants thought the CEO of the diverse team was more moral than that of the homogenous team.
What’s more, those consumers also said they thought the CEO with the diverse team would be less likely to engage in unethical behaviors and would be better at taking in a wide range of perspectives.
“This positive effect arises because consumers perceive diverse teams as possessing higher perspective-taking abilities. Since marketplace morality is concerned with the greater good, we argue that higher perceptions of perspective-taking signal that the team will safeguard the broad interests of the community rather than serve narrow interest groups,” the authors explain. “The findings have broad implications since consumers are increasingly concerned with moral consumption.”
Responsibility of harm
Another experiment asked volunteers to examine the story of a real-life company that had received various complaints about the products it sells and their harmful side effects.
“Results confirmed that diversity had a significant effect on perceived perspective-taking, perceived perspective-taking had a significant effect on perceived morality and perceived morality had a significant effect on perceived responsibility of harm,” the authors explain.
The researchers believe that their results aptly illustrate the way we tend to associate increased morality with a concern for the greater good. As such, having a diverse team suggests that we have greater concern for the welfare of a much wider group of people than is the case when we have a more homogenous team.
“Our findings suggest that greater diversity can provide firms with a lever to not only manage brand transgressions but also to generate a perception of a firm’s morality more broadly. We, therefore, provide yet another reason to prioritize corporate diversity and inclusion,” the authors conclude.
