Individual differences underlying attitudes towards diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives

Dating back to—and even before—Adorno and colleagues’ groundbreaking work on the authoritarian personality, scholars have aimed to identify individual differences underlying (in)tolerance. Here, we argue that an individual difference approach can also help inform our understanding of attitudes toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals. We begin with a review of the foundational work on the authoritarian personality, followed by a discussion of contemporary research revealing that five-to-six personality traits explain cross-situational consistency in people’s attitudes and behaviours. Next, we present the Dual Process Model of Ideology and Prejudice to illustrate that the traits captured by the Big Five (and the Big Six) impact intergroup attitudes through individual differences in two separate, albeit correlated, social ideological attitudes: Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO). We then provide a theoretical integration and argue that core personality traits and early socialization experiences impact attitudes toward DEI initiatives via RWA and SDO. We conclude by discussing directions for future research and imploring scholars to develop multi-pronged interventions that target both individuals who oppose inclusivity in the workplace and the underlying institutions that reinforce structural inequities.