IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v115y2011i1p1-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

But Affirmative Action hurts Us! Race-related beliefs shape perceptions of White disadvantage and policy unfairness

Author

Listed:
  • Shteynberg, Garriy
  • Leslie, Lisa M.
  • Knight, Andrew P.
  • Mayer, David M.

Abstract

Drawing on social identity theory, we examine how Whites' race-related beliefs drive their reactions to race-based Affirmative Action Policies (AAPs). Across laboratory and field settings, we find that Whites with relatively high modern racism (MR) or collective relative deprivation (CRD) beliefs perceive greater White disadvantage in organizations that have race-based AAPs, than in organizations that do not. Alternatively, race-based AAPs do not lead to perceptions of White disadvantage among Whites with relatively low MR and CRD beliefs. We also find that White disadvantage mediates the relationship between the combined effects of race-based AAPs, MR beliefs, and CRD beliefs and the perceived fairness of the organization's selection and promotion policies. Our findings suggest that race-based AAPs do not necessarily lead to perceptions of White disadvantage, but are contingent upon the interpretive lens of Whites' MR and CRD beliefs, and also offer practical insights for preventing negative reactions to race-based AAPs.

Suggested Citation

  • Shteynberg, Garriy & Leslie, Lisa M. & Knight, Andrew P. & Mayer, David M., 2011. "But Affirmative Action hurts Us! Race-related beliefs shape perceptions of White disadvantage and policy unfairness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:115:y:2011:i:1:p:1-12
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749-5978(10)00116-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lind, E. Allan & Kray, Laura & Thompson, Leigh, 1998. "The Social Construction of Injustice: Fairness Judgments in Response to Own and Others' Unfair Treatment by Authorities, , ," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Robert Stine, 1989. "An Introduction to Bootstrap Methods," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 18(2-3), pages 243-291, November.
    3. Leslie, Lisa M. & Gelfand, Michele J., 2008. "The who and when of internal gender discrimination claims: An interactional model," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 123-140, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. A. Olu Oyinlade, 2013. "Affirmative Action Support in an Organization," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(4), pages 21582440135, December.
    2. Fallucchi, Francesco & Quercia, Simone, 2018. "Affirmative action and retaliation in experimental contests," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 23-40.
    3. Beaurain, Guillaume & Masclet, David, 2016. "Does affirmative action reduce gender discrimination and enhance efficiency? New experimental evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 350-362.
    4. Francesco Fallucchi & Simone Quercia, 2016. "Affirmative action and retaliation in experimental contests," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS) 16-03, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    5. Alexandra Maftei & Alois Ghergut, 2021. "Spontaneous Representations of Disability and Attitudes toward Inclusive Educational Practices: a Mixed Approach," Postmodern Openings, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 12(2), pages 18-39, July.
    6. Vlas, Cristina O. & Richard, Orlando C. & Andrevski, Goce & Konrad, Alison M. & Yang, Yang, 2022. "Dynamic capabilities for managing racially diverse workforces: Effects on competitive action variety and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 600-618.
    7. Arnett, Rachel D. & Sidanius, Jim, 2018. "Sacrificing status for social harmony: Concealing relatively high status identities from one’s peers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 108-126.
    8. Marcinko, Andrew J. & Taylor, Chelsey, 2021. "Employee reactions to positive action policies in the United Kingdom: Does the organization’s justification matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Ji‐Hung Choi & Hannah Oh & John Bae & Sang‐Joon Kim, 2021. "Affirmative action and team performance: An agency theoretic perspective," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1183-1193, July.
    10. Norin Arshed & Dominic Chalmers & Russell Matthews, 2019. "Institutionalizing Women’s Enterprise Policy: A Legitimacy-Based Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 553-581, May.
    11. Neschen, Albena & Hügelschäfer, Sabine, 2021. "Gender bias in performance evaluations: The impact of gender quotas," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M.L. Nores & M.P. Díaz, 2016. "Bootstrap hypothesis testing in generalized additive models for comparing curves of treatments in longitudinal studies," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 810-826, April.
    2. Elizabeth Eve Umphress & Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca & Daniel J. Brass & Edward (Eli) Kass & Lotte Scholten, 2003. "The Role of Instrumental and Expressive Social Ties in Employees' Perceptions of Organizational Justice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 738-753, December.
    3. Tangirala, Subrahmaniam & Alge, Bradley J., 2006. "Reactions to unfair events in computer-mediated groups: A test of uncertainty management theory," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Cropanzano, Russell & Paddock, Layne & Rupp, Deborah E. & Bagger, Jessica & Baldwin, Amanda, 2008. "How regulatory focus impacts the process-by-outcome interaction for perceived fairness and emotions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 36-51, January.
    5. Maureen L. Ambrose & Darryl B. Rice & David M. Mayer, 2021. "Justice Climate and Workgroup Outcomes: The Role of Coworker Fair Behavior and Workgroup Structure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 79-99, August.
    6. Brockner, Joel & De Cremer, David & van den Bos, Kees & Chen, Ya-Ru, 2005. "The influence of interdependent self-construal on procedural fairness effects," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 155-167, March.
    7. Chen, Jing & Yu, Bo & Chen, Bintong & Liu, Zhuojun, 2023. "Lenient vs. stringent returns policies in the presence of fraudulent returns: The role of customers’ fairness perceptions," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    8. Li, Andrew & Evans, Joel & Christian, Michael S. & Gilliland, Stephen W. & Kausel, Edgar E. & Stein, Jordan H., 2011. "The effects of managerial regulatory fit priming on reactions to explanations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 268-282, July.
    9. Cao, Shaopeng & Yao, Hongjiang & Zhang, Min, 2023. "CSR gap and firm performance: An organizational justice perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Kray, Laura J. & Allan Lind, E., 2002. "The injustices of others: Social reports and the integration of others' experiences in organizational justice judgments," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 906-924, September.
    11. Scheuerman, Heather L., 2013. "The relationship between injustice and crime: A general strain theory approach," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 375-385.
    12. Pablo Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara & Miguel Suárez-Acosta, 2014. "Employees’ Reactions to Peers’ Unfair Treatment by Supervisors: The Role of Ethical Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 537-549, July.
    13. Wiklund, Johan & Yu, Wei & Tucker, Reginald & Marino, Louis D., 2017. "ADHD, impulsivity and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 627-656.
    14. Hochwarter, Wayne A. & Ferris, Gerald R. & Gavin, Mark B. & Perrewe, Pamela L. & Hall, Angela T. & Frink, Dwight D., 2007. "Political skill as neutralizer of felt accountability--job tension effects on job performance ratings: A longitudinal investigation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 226-239, March.
    15. Price, Kenneth H. & Lavelle, James J. & Henley, Amy B. & Cocchiara, Faye K. & Buchanan, F. Robert, 2006. "Judging the fairness of voice-based participation across multiple and interrelated stages of decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 212-226, March.
    16. Xinming Deng & Xianyi Long & Douglas A. Schuler & Huan Luo & Xiaofei Zhao, 2020. "External corporate social responsibility and labor productivity: A S‐curve relationship and the moderating role of internal CSR and government subsidy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 393-408, January.
    17. Andreea N. Kiss & Pamela S. Barr, 2015. "New venture strategic adaptation: The interplay of belief structures and industry context," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(8), pages 1245-1263, August.
    18. Whitson, Jennifer A. & Wang, Cynthia S. & See, Ya Hui Michelle & Baker, Wayne E. & Murnighan, J. Keith, 2015. "How, when, and why recipients and observers reward good deeds and punish bad deeds," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 84-95.
    19. Hale Dilek Suer & Florence Allard-Poesi, 2013. "How do judgments of justice form during periods of change: a sensemaking model," Post-Print hal-01123798, HAL.
    20. Lind, E. Allan & Kray, Laura & Thompson, Leigh, 2001. "Primacy Effects in Justice Judgments: Testing Predictions from Fairness Heuristic Theory," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 189-210, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:115:y:2011:i:1:p:1-12. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.