Diversity Climate, Trust, and Turnover Intentions: A Multilevel Dynamic System

Past research on employee trust and diversity climate is cross-sectional and often overlooks the distinction between overall unit climate and individual perceptions of climate. The current article addresses the complex relationship between trust and diversity climate, including directionality, evolution over time, multilevel characteristics, and influence on the critical outcome of turnover intentions. Using a novel, a multilevel analysis of cross-lagged panel data with latent interactions, we examined 6 years of data from 3,218 faculty members across 294 departments in a large U.S. university. We then (a) separated within-department and between-department diversity climate perceptions, (b) examined the directionality and durability of the relationships among trust and diversity climate perceptions, and (c) examined employee turnover intentions as an outcome of the trust/diversity climate perception feedback process that we identified. Results revealed a reciprocal relationship between within-department diversity climate and trust. These relationships continued over the full 6-year period and, as hypothesized, were stronger in departments with more unsupportive diversity climates. When all three variables were modeled at both levels of analysis, an influence on future turnover intentions was observed.