Status processes and organizational inequality : the social psychology of inclusion
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Building on Status Characteristics Theory (SCT), this dissertation provides new insight into how macro and meso-level structural forces, such as legal environment, organizational context and cultural beliefs about race influence micro dynamics in group processes, attitudes, and behavior within organizations. This study breaks new ground by extending SCT propositions with critical insights from institutional and intergroup attitude theories. Guided by this theoretical extension, several hypotheses are investigated to clarify the effects of competing diversity logics on productive organizational outcomes. Organizations increasingly endorse inclusive diversity values, yet broader societal bias and discrimination continue to limit opportunity for racial/ethnic minorities and women. While intended to be unifying, inclusive diversity values can generate informal resistance and backlash because they challenge culturally-based status hierarchies that are deeply ingrained in society. This experimental study investigates several hypotheses to further clarify the conditions under which inclusive diversity values are most successful in promoting productive outcomes, such as equitable management decisions and reduced bias. Both laboratory (n=63) and survey-based (n=220) experiments support the basic SCT hypothesis that formal organizational diversity logics endorsing a value of low status group members can often lead to informal resistance that exacerbates existing status effects and inequalities. An especially surprising experimental finding supports the efficacy of the "legal compliance case" over the "business case" in contrast to a growing literature on both detrimental effects of legal compliance and benefits of business rationales. Despite the perceived legitimacy of profit-based rationales for diversity endorsed by Corporate America, results indicate that a "business case" for diversity elicited more negative behavior toward minority group members and a weaker value of diversity and inclusion than rationales emphasizing antidiscrimination law. As a legitimate and authoritative social institution with historical, political, and moral grounding, civil rights law appears to have a normative influence that other strategies do not. Additional multivariate analyses also suggest that future research on these effects need to further clarify rather complex social psychological mediating and moderating processes. Beyond theoretical benefits, findings can inform organizational leaders seeking to better understand effects of alternative policies, structural arrangements, and training strategies to institutionalize the value of diversity. Findings should also help raise awareness for managers, employees, attorneys, judges, and numerous other stakeholders investing in diversity and inclusion or evaluating such efforts within the context of color-blind ideological debates.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2013 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Bowman, Jamillah E.?UNAUTHORIZED |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Sociology. |
| Primary advisor | Ridgeway, Cecilia L |
| Thesis advisor | Ridgeway, Cecilia L |
| Thesis advisor | Correll, Shelley Joyce |
| Thesis advisor | Dauber, Michele Landis |
| Advisor | Correll, Shelley Joyce |
| Advisor | Dauber, Michele Landis |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Jamillah E. Bowman. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Sociology. |
| Thesis | Ph.D. Stanford University 2013 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2013 by Jamillah Ebuni Bowman
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...