Individual diversity management and salutogenic functioning

Abstract

Individual diversity management was framed as how individual managers engage with and experience diversity situations. Salutogenesis was chosen as the psychological model to understand individual' management of diversity. The aim of the research was to investigate whether and how sense of coherence (SOC) acts as differentiator between ineffective and effective diversity management amongst managers. Based on their quantitatively measured SOC scores, 33 managers in a financial services organization were divided into a (statistically significantly different) low and high functioning subgroup. This was followed by a qualitative interview based on their experienced comprehension, manageability and meaningfulness of diversity experiences. Compared to the low subgroup, the high SOC subgroup reported understanding of the necessity of diversity discussions, managing themselves as representatives of a specific race, gender and age group, and finding diversity experiences meaningful towards identity forming and effective interpersonal relationships. Their SOC was linked to other salutogenic constructs. It was recommended that this organization design its diversity programme based on salutogenesis as theoretical model. © 2011 The Institute of Psychiatry.