Individual value structure and diversity attitudes : The moderating effects of age, gender, race, and religiosity

Purpose – To investigate how an individual's value structure influences his/her attitudes toward others who are dissimilar and the moderating effects of age, gender, race, and religiosity on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 165 respondents completed the 56‐item Schwartz Value Survey (SVS), which measures the four value types of openness to change, self‐transcendence, conservation, and self‐enhancement, and the 15‐item Miville‐Guzman Universality‐Diversity Scale Short (M‐GUDS‐S), which measures diversity attitudes. The relationships between the variables were explored using hierarchical regression. Findings – Respondents who scored higher on the values of openness to change and self‐ transcendence had more positive diversity attitudes than those who scored lower. Respondents who scored higher on self‐enhancement had less positive diversity attitudes than those who scored lower. The prediction that those who score higher on conservation would have less positive diversity attitudes was not supported. Age, gender, and race were found to interact with values to predict diversity attitudes. None of the interaction effects for religiosity was significant. Originality/value – This paper provides evidence of the predictive strength of an individual's value structure on their attitudes towards diversity. More specifically, this paper shows that the impact that a person's values have on his/her attitudes towards diversity is moderated by his/her age, race, and gender. The results suggest that diversity training needs to be more targeted and designed to take into consideration the values, age, gender, and race of the trainees.