Belle Rose Ragins

The workplace in the 21st century has changed dramatically, as the internet connected the world, the “gig economy” changed work arrangements, globalization expanded the job market and individual work values such as autonomy and freedom became dominant (Rabenu, 2021). Just a few years ago, automation and technology were the heart of the conversation on the modern workplace and seemed to be replacing meaningful human connections. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, that required social distancing, demonstrated just how much people still need each other, and how technology cannot replace human relationships. The Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) movement that started in the early 2000’s seeks to understand the role of positive relationships at work. The place of work in our lives makes it a source of meaning, purpose and identity-building, that are often created through positive …

Diversity education occurs in universities and workplaces, but research has progressed in disciplinary silos. Consequently, the field of diversity training has failed to utilize theoretical and practical advances from related fields. Our research addresses these limitations. Integrating educational and social psychology theories, we develop a relational model of training that offers perspective taking as an outcome of diversity training and cross-race friendships as a relational experience that spills over to the training environment. Our first 2 studies, conducted in organizational and academic settings, confirmed the model. Pre-and postcourse assessments revealed that while participants became more aware of the value of perspective taking and their need to improve this skill, only those with close cross-race friends improved their reported perspective taking abilities. Other forms of interracial contact and racial attitudes had …

In recent years, researchers have paid increasing attention to relationships across difference (RADs), or interpersonal relationships between coworkers who have different cultural identities (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual identity). Much of the research has emphasized that RADs, such as cross-race relationships, involve significant challenges such as prejudicial interactions, intergroup anxiety, and identity threat. The papers in this symposium complement previous research on challenges associated with RADs by also investigating key variables involved in positive relational dynamics in RADs. Although previous research has suggested that a learning approach is critical for positive relationships (Davidson & James, 2007), more research is needed to understand variables involved in relational dynamics that foster learning, especially in RADs. The papers in this symposium identify important factors …