A Mediated Regression Analysis Examining the Relationship Between Sexual Orientation, Sense of Belonging, Organizational Justice, and Employee Engagement

Employee engagement, and the competitive edge it is perceived to provide to organizations, is of considerable interest to the fields of business, human resource management (HRM), psychology, and human resource development (HRD). Yet, few scholars have chosen to focus on the identity- and relationally based factors that may impact LGBTQ+ experiences of employee engagement or disengagement. Leveraging the insights of stigma, shame, heteronormativity, queer, belongingness and spillover, organizational justice, and critical HRD and HRM theories, this dissertation represents the first quantitative, explanatory analysis that includes LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ perceptions of organizational belonging and organizational justice in the workplace to identify and provide awareness of where and how we fall short in promoting employee engagement. The study design consisted of a quantitative, cross-sectional survey with closed, Likert-scale questions supplemented with three qualitative, open-ended questions. Quantitative data from LGBTQ+ (258 responses) and non-LGBTQ+ (244 responses) employees in the United States was analyzed using mediated regression. Results showed Organizational Belonging (β = .29, p < .001), Procedural Justice (β = .29, p < .001), and Distributive Justice (β = .29, p < .001) had direct and indirect mediating effects on the relationship between sexual orientation and employee engagement. Qualitative themes reinforced the quantitative findings; progressive organizations whose policies and supportive relationship practices embody and enforce diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) by championing the voices of LGBTQ+ employees are perceived to advance organizational culture. This study offers implications for business, HRM, and HRD researchers, scholars, and practitioners to support erosion of gendered norms (e.g., heteronormativity, cisnormativity) within the employee engagement literature and practical applications through DEIB initiatives for including LGBTQ+ perspectives to advance employee engagement for all workplace identities.