Conservatives report more positive attitudes toward viewpoint diversity in their communities; liberals report more positive attitudes toward demographic diversity

On the Varieties of Diversity: Ideological Variations in Attitudes Toward, and Understandings of Diversity. Kathryn A. Howard, Daniel Cervone, Matthew Motyl. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, July 16, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211028141

Abstract: Three studies explore the possibility that attitudes toward “diversity” are multidimensional rather than unidimensional and that ideological differences in diversity attitudes vary as a function of diversity subtype. Study 1 (n = 1,001) revealed that the factor structure of attitudes toward 23 diverse community features was bidimensional. Factors involving demographic and viewpoint diversity emerged. Conservatives reported more positive attitudes toward viewpoint diversity, and liberals more positive attitudes toward demographic diversity. Study 2 (n = 1,012) replicated Study 1 findings, and extended Study 1 results by showing attitudes toward the general concept of diversity predicted attitudes toward demographic diversity but not viewpoint diversity. In Study 3, 386 participants rated how relevant a set of features was to their prototypical understanding of diversity. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed people discriminate between viewpoint, demographic, and consumer diversity. Conservatives perceived viewpoint features as more relevant to “diversity,” whereas liberals perceived demographic features as more relevant.

Keywords: diversity, ideology, attitudes, prototypes, politics