Research: Why Managers Deny Inequity in Their Own Organizations

All too often, managers deny the existence of inequities at their organizations and, as a result, resist implementing diversity initiatives there. There are two standard explanations for this behavior: Managers resist because they’re part of privileged demographic groups whose power is threatened by the initiatives, or because they’re ideologically opposed to them. The authors of this article, however, have uncovered evidence of an even more powerful factor: Managers resist because they identify with their organizations and therefore are prone to “motivated reasoning,” a phenomenon that makes it hard for them to view their organization in a negative light. The authors explain this phenomenon and provide readers with some tactics for combatting it.