The impact of identity orientation on individual and organizational outcomes in demographically diverse settings

Our present understanding of identification processes poses ct serious limitation to diversity research. In this article I present a preliminary model explicating how organizational, task, and reward structures affect the activation of members' personal, relational, and collective identity orientations. I further outline the manner in which the identity orientations of majority and minority individuals link to cognition, affect, and behavior of members of each group, as well as to diversity-related organizational outcomes. Activating ct relational identity orientation may promote benefits and inhibit disadvantages associated with diversity. I also discuss apparent theoretical and practical contributions of the model.