Well‐being in the context of workplace ethnic diversity

Abstract

This research examined the relation between the effects of workplace diversity (defined as the proportion of coworkers of same ethnicity as the respondent) and psychosomatic complaints, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and job satisfaction. A sample of 648 African American and Latino workers was surveyed in Chicago and New York City. A nonlinear (inverted U-shaped)relationship between co-ethnicity and the outcomes was found, such that poorer psychological functioning was observed among workers with a very small or a very high proportion of co-ethnic coworkers. The importance of disentangling the meaning of diversity in light of occupational segregation issues is discussed.

The Impact of Individual Differences and Group Diversity on Group Interaction Climate and Satisfaction: A Test of the Effective Intercultural Workgroup Communication Theory

“…This finding provides further evidence of the varying relationship between ethnic diversity and group interaction. Some researchers have found a negative relationship between ethnic diversity and group interaction (e.g., Watson & Kumar, 1992;Watson et al, 1993); other researchers have found a neutral relationship (e.g., Oetzel, 2001); and still others have found a curvilinear relationship (Enchautegui-de-Jesú s et al, 2006;Riordan & Shore, 1997). Oetzel's (2005) theory provides some explanation of why there are these disparate findings.…”

Workplace racial/ethnic similarity, job satisfaction, and lumbar back health among warehouse workers: Asymmetric reactions across racial/ethnic groups

“…Various measures of demographic similarity have been developed (Riordan & Wayne, ). Some measures have reflected perceived demographic similarity by asking respondents to report the extent to which they work with employees of the same ethnicity and/or race as themselves (e.g., Avery, Lerman, & Volpone, ; Enchautegui‐de‐Jesús et al, ). Other more objective measures have used organizational records to identify group composition and then calculated the similarity score for individual group members (Tsui et al, ).…”

“…Because those studies focused on white employees, we do not know whether the results apply to racial/ethnic minorities. A study of African‐Americans and Latinos found an inverse J‐shaped association between racial/ethnic similarity and job satisfaction (Enchautegui‐de‐Jesús, Hughes, Johnston, & Oh, ). Similar to the Maume and Sebastian study, the authors controlled for work hours, job control, and job demands.…”

Organizational Context and the Well-Being of Black Workers: Does Racial Composition Affect Psychological Distress?

“…Using a continuous percent Black coworker measure, they find that both depression and anxiety were reduced as the percentage of Black coworkers increased. Enchautegui- de-Jesús et al (2006) analyze a sample of Black and Latinx workers in New York City and Chicago and find that psychological well-being is lowest among workers in token jobs and improves with the proportion of same-race coworkers, but begins to decline slightly at the highest levels of proportional representation (inverse J-shaped). Finally, Hoppe et al (2014) examine the effect of workplace racial similarity on lumbar back health among warehouse workers.…”

“…In the first tract (Panel A), three studies have explicitly linked work group racial composition to Black workers' health and well-being (Enchautegui- de-Jesús, Hughes, Johnston, & Oh, 2006;Hoppe, Fujishiro, & Heaney, 2014;Jackson et al, 1995). These studies find, in general, that increasing racial homogeneity tends to promote health and well-being and suggest that this stems from the erosion of majority group power, which presumably reduces stereotyping, in-group preference, and social isolation.…”