Attitudes Toward Different Methods of Affirmative Action¹

Abstract

It was found that the men's and women's attitudes toward affirmative action (AA) in general were related to differences in self‐interest. In addition, consistent with predictions drawn from notions of organizational justice and attribution principles, it was found that people held different attitudes toward different methods of affirmative action. People were most favorable toward AA involving special training programs and least favorable toward AA that employed differential selection criteria for target group members. Attitudes toward quota‐based systems were intermediate.