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History backfires: Reminders of past injustices against women undermine support for workplace policies promoting women

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  • Hideg, Ivona
  • Wilson, Anne E.

Abstract

Public discourse on current inequalities often invokes past injustice endured by minorities. This rhetoric also sometimes underlies contemporary equality policies. Drawing on social identity theory and the employment equity literature, we suggest that reminding people about past injustice against a disadvantaged group (e.g., women) can invoke social identity threat among advantaged group members (e.g., men) and undermine support for employment equity (EE) policies by fostering the belief that inequality no longer exists. We find support for our hypotheses in four studies examining Canadian (three studies) and American (one study) EE policies. Overall, we found that reminders of past injustice toward women undermined men’s support for an EE policy promoting women by heightening their denial of current gender discrimination. Supporting a social identity account, men’s responses were mediated by collective self-esteem, and were attenuated when threat was mitigated. Reminders of past injustice did not influence women’s support for the EE policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hideg, Ivona & Wilson, Anne E., 2020. "History backfires: Reminders of past injustices against women undermine support for workplace policies promoting women," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 176-189.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:156:y:2020:i:c:p:176-189
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.10.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hideg, Ivona & Ferris, D. Lance, 2014. "Support for employment equity policies: A self-enhancement approach," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 49-64.
    2. Unzueta, Miguel M. & Lowery, Brian S. & Knowles, Eric D., 2008. "How believing in affirmative action quotas protects White men's self-esteem," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 1-13, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vanita Yadav & Jeemol Unni & Ravikiran Naik & Swati Dutta, 2022. "Gender Differentials in Entrepreneurship: Insights from a Multi-method Study," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 31(1), pages 30-64, March.

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