Reaffirming King's Vision: The Power of Participation in Inclusive Diversity Efforts to Benefit Intergroup Outcomes

Abstract

AbstractIn 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. reaffirmed a vision of integration as “an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity.” Drawing inspiration from King's vision, across two datasets with White and Asian college students (N = 1,957, N = 1,324), this article finds support for the power of participation in inclusive diversity efforts associated with underrepresented groups (i.e., Latina/o and African Americans) to benefit intergroup attitudes. Specifically, participating in an academic course or activity that involves Latina/o/x or African American culture is related to greater outgroup closeness and more supportive perceptions of policies that address inequality. Perceptions of policies included attitudes toward the merits of affirmative action, use of multicultural (vs. colorblind) approaches to diversity, and endorsement of structural (vs. individual) explanations for inequality. These results held controlling for other types of contact (i.e., outgroup friendships, roommates, interactions), college‐level demographic diversity, and prior intergroup attitudes and diversity exposure. The importance of engagement in inclusive diversity efforts for achieving integration is discussed.