Perception Of Diversity

Two studies were conducted to examine effects of diversity on perception. The primary purpose of the first study was to see how people perceive diverse groups, how comfortable they are working in such groups, and how attracted they are to diverse groups. Results indicated that people prefer working with groups that represented their ethnicity (race-inclusion) and perceived such groups to be more attractive than groups that did not represent their ethnicity (race-exclusion). Also, White participants were more attracted to diverse groups and more willing to work in diverse groups than Black participants. Most importantly, the preference of race-inclusion pictures to race-exclusion pictures was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites along the dimensions of attractiveness and willingness to work in diverse groups. The second study focused on perception of diversity in work and social contexts. Results indicated that participants perceived high diverse groups to be more capable, more beneficial and less enjoyable than low diverse groups. Participants enjoyed interacting with diverse groups in a work context rather than a social context.