TRAIN 4 TOLERANCE (T4T): Developing Tolerance in Diverse Work Teams through Diversity Training

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Claudia Buengeler
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 493131063

Work teams in organizations are increasingly diverse. Since diversity does not always have a positive impact on collaboration and performance, organizations often invest in diversity training. However, these training measures are often less effective than hoped or may even have a negative impact on dealing with diversity. One important reason for this may be that diversity training often aims to convince participants of the value of diversity and to reduce their disapproval of diverse others (e.g., through stereotype reduction). However, such approaches often lead to resistance, which further decreases collaboration with diverse others. Therefore, one way out could be to train tolerance in dealing with diversity instead. Based on the disapproval-respect model of tolerance, we therefore propose to focus diversity training on creating tolerance by increasing respect for diverse team members without requiring trainees to stop disapproving. The proposed TRAIN 4 TOLERANCE research project aims to create knowledge regarding the relevance of tolerance and its development through diversity training for collaboration and performance of diverse work teams. Using controlled experimental and longitudinal studies in the laboratory and in the field, we investigate causal effects of tolerance for diverse work teams and its development via respect in the context of diversity training. In contrast to the still dominant short-term consideration of training effects, we also focus on longer-term and dynamic effects of diversity training on tolerance in the trained teams as well as toward other teams in the workplace. The project combines survey data, observation-based behavioral coding and objective performance information. TRAIN 4 TOLERANCE contributes to diversity research by creating causal knowledge about the value of tolerance to diverse teams and their performance. In doing so, it demonstrates the extent to which disapproval can even be functional when respect is present in realizing the potential of diversity for creative and problem-solving performance. By means of a controlled intervention study comparing short- and longer-term as well as dynamic effects of tolerance-centered versus conventional diversity training and a control condition, it advances (diversity) training research. In practice, it contributes to the development of theory-guided and evidence-based tools for the effective management of diversity in organizations.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5472: The Difficulty and Possibility of Tolerance: The Multifaceted Challenges of the Concept and Practice of Tolerance
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Astrid Homan, Ph.D.