Workplace racial composition, perceived discrimination, and organizational attachment Kevin Stainback a,⇑ , Matthew Irvin b a Purdue University, Stone Hall, 700 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2059, United States b Eastern Kentucky University, Keith Building, 521 Lancaster Avenue, Richmond, KY 40475-0001, United States article info Article history: Received 18 December 2009 Revised 8 November 2011 Accepted 21 November 2011 Available online xxxx Keywords: Racial discrimination Organizational demography Workplace inequality Race/ethnicity Organizational attachment abstract Prior research has devoted considerable attention to the relationship between the racial and ethnic composition of jobs and various indicators of organizational attachment. Fewer studies, however, examine how workplace racial composition affects individuals’ experi- ences of racial discrimination or how these experiences impact workers’ organizational attachment. To address this lacuna, we first examine the effects of workplace racial com- position on perceived racial and ethnic discrimination. Next, we examine whether per- ceived racial discrimination mediates the association between racial composition and organizational attachment observed in prior studies. Finally, we explore whether these relationships are similar (symmetric) or different (non-symmetric) for non-Whites and Whites. The analyses indicate: (1) working with predominately same-race coworkers tends to diminish perceptions of racial discrimination, (2) perceived racial discrimination medi- ates some of the effects of racial/ethnic composition on organizational attachment, and (3) some non-symmetric effects between non-Whites and Whites are found. We conclude with implications for future research. Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Contemporary scholars of workplace inequality have developed a substantial literature examining the effects of work- place racial and ethnic composition on organizational attachment. 1 In general, the previous research suggest that racial and ethnic similarity with coworkers and managers promotes stronger social relationships, enhances organizational commit- ment (Mueller et al., 1999; Pelled et al., 1999; Riordan and Shore, 1997; Tsui and O’Reilly, 1989), and reduces job search inten- tions (Kmec, 2007; O’Reilly et al., 1991; Tsui et al., 1992). Although the association between racial/ethnic composition and organizational attachment is widely documented, numerous researchers have recommended that future studies seek to uncover mediating factors (e.g., Mueller et al., 1999; Zatzick et al., 2003). We contribute to the previous research in this article by examining a potentially important mediating factor explaining how work group racial/ethnic composition affects organizational attachment—perceived racial discrimination. We suspect that perceived racial/ethnic discrimination—the subjective assessment that one has been treated unfairly on the basis of his/her race or ethnicity—may be highly responsive to the racial and ethnic composition of the work group. Racial and ethnic composition is likely to be a critical trigger for invoking racial and ethnic categorizations and stereotyping, which in turn 0049-089X/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.11.016 ⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 4 765 496 1476. E-mail addresses: stainback@purdue.edu (K. Stainback), matthew.irvin@eku.edu (M. Irvin). 1 The term organizational attachment refers to a condition that is temporally prior to employee exit. Previous research has incorporated measures that can be described as psychological (e.g., loyalty, commitment) and associational (e.g., job search intentions, absences, exits) attachment (e.g., see Tsui et al., 1992; Mueller et al., 1999). Social Science Research xxx (2012) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Social Science Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssresearch Please cite this article in press as: Stainback, K., Irvin, M. Workplace racial composition, perceived discrimination, and organizational attachment. Social Sci. Res. (2012), doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.11.016