Why a Little Diversity doesn’t Go a Long Way: A Collective Moral Licensing Explanation for Homosocial Reproduction

B. Parker Ellen, Jennifer C. Sexton and Marla Baskerville Watkins

Journal of Management Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 7, 2559-2586

Abstract: Despite significant knowledge on the demographic composition of workgroups, the literature lacks group‐level theory that addresses the tendency of work groups with token levels of diversity to maintain their demographic imbalance over time. We explain this phenomenon by extending moral licensing theory to the group level, arguing that a token level of racial or gender diversity leads to the development of a collective moral credential. This credential provides psychological permission for groups to relax their moral strivings, such that they are less likely to question the influence of bias in group member selection decisions, and thus more likely to make subsequent homogenous group member additions. Additionally, we argue that the diversity climates within which groups are embedded can either magnify (i.e., in fairness‐focused diversity climates) or mitigate (i.e., in synergy‐focused diversity climates) the development of a collective moral credential. Further, we suggest that the effect of token levels of diversity on the development of a collective moral credential can be affected by the prevailing social norms for diversity. Finally, we theorize that the effects of this process can be accentuated by group use of a majority decision rule and attenuated by group use of a unanimous decision rule.

Date: 2025
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