Exploring the impact of diversity climate on individual work role performance: A novel approach

While the positive diversity climate‐performance relationship has already been widely studied, still little is known about the mechanisms by which this relationship operates. Additionally, very few studies using the diversity climate concept were conducted in Europe, as most diversity climate measures were designed for the US context. We create a new measurement instrument that is not US‐sensitive, based on a new underlying conceptualization. We use this new measure to understand the influence of diversity climate on work role performance in the European context. We test our conceptual model through a cross‐level analysis in a large French organization (N = 509; N unit = 34). We find that unit‐level diversity climate is positively related to work role performance, and that job satisfaction and affective commitment mediate the diversity climate/work role performance relationship. This study has strong theoretical and managerial implications as it highlights the role of diversity climate on performance behaviors.