Inclusive climates, healtier minds. A mediation model of LGBT+ supportive psychological climate, negative affect, and burnout in a group of italian cisgender heterosexual workers

Introduction: Psychological climate is an individual's subjective perception of their work environment and is considered one of the closest predictors of multiple individual outcomes. Several companies have adopted diversity and inclusion policies in recent years. However, the latest ISTAT data suggest that still many LGBT+ people are discriminated against in the workplace. According to the Affective Events Theory, positive and negative work events influence workers’ attitudes and behaviors through their affective reactions. Therefore, being in a supportive and respectful environment for different people can be positive for all workers. Aims and methods: This 3-waves longitudinal study aims to assess the influence of an LGBT+ supportive psychological climate (T1) on burnout (T3) through the mediation of negative affects (T2) in a sample of 124 Italian heterosexual cisgender workers (n=79; 63.7% women) with a mean age of 41.72 years (SD=15.21). Results: Longitudinal mediation conducted with SEM suggests that LGBT+ supportive psychological climate reduced burnout in heterosexual cisgender workers by reducing their negative affects β=-.138; p<.01; 95%CI=-.233/-.039. Conclusions: Our results suggest that an LGBT+ supportive psychological climate can help not only LGBT+ people, as evidence in the literature suggests, but also cisgender heterosexual people. Thus, a work environment inclined toward the inclusion of sexual minority people can also improve the work well-being of non-gender people. In a global landscape ambivalent toward LGBT+ people, this study suggests that diversity and inclusion policies can be a resource for all workers.