Who gives? Multilevel effects of gender and ethnicity on workplace charitable giving

Lisa M. Leslie, Mark Snyder, Theresa M Glomb

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research on diversity in organizations has largely focused on the implications of gender and ethnic differences for performance, to the exclusion of other outcomes. We propose that gender and ethnic differences also have implications for workplace charitable giving, an important aspect of corporate social responsibility. Drawing from social role theory, we hypothesize and find that gender has consistent effects across levels of analysis; women donate more money to workplace charity than do men, and the percentage of women in a work unit is positively related to workplace charity, at least among men. Alternatively and consistent with social exchange theory, we hypothesize and find that ethnicity has opposingeffects across levels of analysis; ethnic minorities donate less money to workplace charity than do Whites, but the percentage of minorities in a work unit is positively related to workplace charity, particularly among minorities. The findings provide a novel perspective on the consequences of gender and ethnic diversity in organizations and highlight synergies between organizational efforts to increase diversity and to build a reputation for corporate social responsibility.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)49-62
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Applied Psychology
Volume98
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

Keywords

  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Diversity
  • Ethnicity/race
  • Gender
  • Prosocial behavior

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