10510: Value Similarity (But Not Racial Similarity) Closes the Racial Authenticity Gap in Teams (session 25776)

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Authentic self-expression—the alignment between one’s internal sense of self and observable self-expression—is celebrated for its benefits to employees. However, disparities persist in employees’ expression of their authentic selves, such that people of color are less likely to do so than their White counterparts. In this research, we explore the impact of workgroup composition on authentic self-expression. Integrating the State Authenticity as Fit to Environment (SAFE) model with research on surface- and deep-level characteristics, we theorize that deep-level similarity— specifically, having similar values as teammembers—fosters greater authentic self-expression than surface- level similarity—namely, belonging to a team with more members from one’s racial group—for people of color, thus promoting equitable authenticity. We find support for our hypotheses in a multi-year dataset of 1,540 team members in 323 randomly assigned workgroups. Our results reveal that racial similarity with teammates does not increase authentic self-expression for people of color. Conversely, increased value similarity with teammates increases authentic self- expression for people of color, facilitating equitable authenticity. Considering theories of authenticity and person-environment fit alongside literature on surface- and deep-level similarity, this work challenges assumptions about the effectiveness of attending merely to surface- level diversity when considering the authenticity of people of color.

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