Policy Type and Justification Influences on Support for Affirmative Action Policies

This study examines the influence of policy type (recruitment vs. tiebreaker) and policy justification (no justification vs. justified as increasing organizational diversity) on support for a hiring policy. Consistent with predictions, recruitment policies received greater support than tiebreakers and participants preferred justified policies to those presented without justification. However, the impact of justifications differed across policies. Justifications increased support for tiebreaker policies but did not increase support for recruitment approaches. The paper discusses these results in terms of fairness heuristic theory and implications for enhancing support for other forms of affirmative action.