Social identity contingencies: How diversity cues signal threat or safety for African Americans in mainstream institutions.

TLDR

Across three experiments, the authors examined African American professionals’ responses to minority representation and diversity philosophy cues in workplace settings and found that identity‑contingent evaluations mediated the relationship between setting cues and trust. The study shows that African American professionals perceive social identity contingency cues—especially low minority representation combined with colorblindness—as threatening, leading to distrust, and that identity‑contingent evaluations mediate this effect, underscoring the importance of these contingencies for underrepresented groups in mainstream institutions.

Abstract

This research demonstrates that people at risk of devaluation based on group membership are attuned to cues that signal social identity contingencies--judgments, stereotypes, opportunities, restrictions, and treatments that are tied to one's social identity in a given setting. In 3 experiments, African American professionals were attuned to minority representation and diversity philosophy cues when they were presented as a part of workplace settings. Low minority representation cues coupled with colorblindness (as opposed to valuing diversity) led African American professionals to perceive threatening identity contingencies and to distrust the setting (Experiment 1). The authors then verified that the mechanism mediating the effect of setting cues on trust was identity contingent evaluations (Experiments 2 & 3). The power of social identity contingencies as they relate to underrepresented groups in mainstream institutions is discussed.