Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 61, No. 3, 2005, pp. 507--523 Affirmative Action and Job Satisfaction: Understanding Underlying Processes Yolanda Flores Niemann ∗ Washington State University Tri-Cities John F. Dovidio Colgate University In the present article, we examine the relationship between perceptions of affir- mative action and the satisfaction of racial and ethnic minority faculty members. We develop a conceptual model of factors that mediate the impact of affirmative action on the satisfaction of faculty of color, and investigate this model based on survey responses of 84 African-American, 48 Latina/o, and 59 Asian faculty. Analyses showed that the satisfaction of faculty of color is significantly related to how affirmative action is perceived to be embraced by the community, and that this effect is mediated by how supportive colleagues are seen and how much self- doubt faculty experience. Data also indicated the important role of mentoring for supporting the goals of affirmative action. Affirmative action has represented one of the most hotly debated policies in American politics over the past three decades, virtually since the inception of the program (Skrentny, 1996, 2001). As the recent Grutter v. Bollinger et al. Supreme Court decision (Supreme Court of the United States, 539 U.S., 2003) demonstrates, the issues remain contentious today. One aspect of the affirmative action controversy involves the consequences of affirmative action on society, on organizations, and on individuals. On the one hand, some scholars have argued that affirmative action often has harmful consequences on the productivity of society and organizations (Eastland, 1996), on the quality of higher education (D’Souza, ∗ Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yolanda Flores Niemann, Chair, Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies, P.O. Box 99164-4010, Pullman, WA 99164-4010 [e-mail: yniemann@wsu.edu]. This manuscript was supported, in part, by NIMH Grant MH 48721 to the second author. 507 C  2005 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues