Demographic “Stickiness”: The Demographic Identity of Departing Group Members Influences Who Is Chosen to Replace Them

People tasked with replacing a departing group member are disproportionately likely to choose a replacement with the same demographic identity, leading to demographic “stickiness” in group composition. We examine this effect in 2,163 U.S. federal judge appointments over 75 years, in the selection of 5,616 S&P 1500 board directors from 2014 to 2019, and in four preregistered experiments ( n = 2,900). The patterns we document are generally consistent with both impact aversion (desires to minimize changes to group composition and dynamics) and diversity loss aversion (outsized concerns about losing ground on demographic diversity relative to interests in gaining ground). Ultimately, our results suggest that replacement decisions are influenced by loss-averse preferences regarding the demographic identities of departing group members. The propensity to choose new group members based on whether they demographically resemble their predecessors suggests that once progress toward diversification has occurred, it should be “sticky,” so backsliding is less likely than might otherwise be expected. An optimistic outlook is that one-time interventions to change group composition may have a lasting impact, and change agents committed to diversification may have enduring effects on equality beyond their tenure.