Demographic dissimilarity, value congruence, and workplace attachment : Asymmetrical group effects

Purpose – Relying on relational demography and person-organization fit perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to explore the interactive effect of demographic dissimilarity and value congruence on workplace attachment outcomes – affective and normative organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Based on optimal distinctiveness theory, asymmetrical effects across gender and race/ethnicity are also examined. Design/methodology/approach – A diverse sample of 278 restaurant workers in 30 different work units is used to test the hypotheses using hierarchical OLS regression. Findings – The results partially support the idea that perceived and objective value congruence moderate the relationship of race/ethnic and gender dissimilarity on workplace attachment. Tests for asymmetrical demographic group effects showed that value congruence had a stronger moderating effect for whites than for people of color, and for men than for women. Research limitations/implications – The results suggest that value congruence can ameliorate the adverse diversity effects on workplace attachment, but that a complete substitution effect may not be present. Women and minorities may still be sensitive to demographic representation even when their value congruence is high. This implies that a simultaneous pursuit of fit and diversity is an adequate diversity management strategy to stimulate the inclusion and workplace attachment of all social groups. Originality/value – This study joins a limited number of studies addressing the interaction of value congruence and demographic dissimilarity, and presents empirical evidence from a work setting. Also, this is the first study to show gender and race/ethnic differences in this interaction.