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Modern prejudice was examined as a potential predictor of overestimating proportions of minority employees in gender-typed occupations. Strength of conjunction error was considered as an indicator of distorted perceptions of these proportions. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the association between modern prejudice and strength of conjunction error was weaker for gender-untypical than for gender-typical targets.

Modern prejudice was considered as a predictor of overestimations of black female employees in Study 1 (n=183) and black female older employees in Study 2 (n=409). Data were collected using internet-mediated questionnaires.

In Study 1, modern racism, but not modern sexism, was associated with greater strength of conjunction error when respondents were presented with gender-typical targets. In Study 2, using a sample scoring higher on modern prejudice than in Study 1, modern racism, but not modern sexism and modern ageism, was associated with greater strength of conjunction error, irrespective of target occupation. Furthermore, there was an unexpected association between lower sexism and greater strength of conjunction error for gender-typical targets, but not for gender-untypical targets.

The findings lend support to the ethnic-prominence hypothesis in that modern racism, but not modern sexism or modern ageism, was associated with greater strength of conjunction error. Furthermore, empirical evidence suggests that target non-prototypicality can dilute the effect of modern prejudice on strength of conjunction error.

This is one of the rare studies examining attitudes and conjunction error in a work-relevant context, thereby bridging the gap between social cognition and applied psychology.

Purpose – This study examines the relationship between endorsement of positive stereotypes of women and support for women's rights to shed light on the role that endorsement of positive stereotypes may play in maintaining social stratification.

Design/methodology/approach – The study uses data collected from a web-based survey of 181 male undergraduate students in six different universities and colleges to examine the relationship between the endorsement of positive stereotypes of women and support for women's rights. The paper examines four ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to determine the relationship and utilizes the statistical software Stata 9.2.

Findings – Rather than a simple direct relationship, the findings suggest that the relationship between the endorsement of positive stereotypes and support for women's rights varies based on the level of hostile sexism. Increased endorsement of positive stereotypes of women was associated with decreased support for women's rights among males with the lowest level of hostile sexism, but the opposite relationship was found for males at the mean and the highest level of hostile sexism.

Research limitations/implications – The findings suggest that endorsement of positive stereotypes plays a unique role for males who do not endorse traditional sexist attitudes. Although data are not available to clarify what processes might be undergirding the relationship, the author suggests directions for future research.

Practical implications – Given the relationship found, prejudice reduction interventions that rely on the promotion of positive stereotypes of various social groups should be closely examined to determine if they actually foster attitudes that are detrimental for the eradication of social stratification.

Originality/value – This study is one of the first to examine the possible negative impacts of endorsement of positive stereotypes of women on gender stratification through a moderated relationship with levels of hostile sexism.

After briefly documenting the continuing problem of racial discrimination in the American workplace, the sources of discrimination were identified. Prejudiced reactions were shown to originate from old-fashioned, blatant racists; non-prejudice persons; and, modern racists. Then, the motivation to inhibit prejudice reactions by each source was examined. Subsequently, three organizational strategies to encourage the inhibition of prejudiced reactions were suggested. Each strategy was described as addressing a particular source (e.g. old-fashioned racists) and failing to be applicable to the other sources. None of the proposed strategies entailed attempting to transform racists into models of racial tolerance. Implications of these ideas for theory and research are examined.

There is a dearth of human resource management (HRM) literature examining the generalizability of research employing undergraduate student participants. The purpose of this study is to conduct an experiment to compare the job applicant evaluations and hiring decisions of undergraduate student participants with those of working adults with hiring experience.

This study employed a between-person 2 × 2 × 4 experimental design: participant group (undergraduate students or working adults with hiring experience) × job gender-type (male typed or female typed) × job applicant (heterosexual female, lesbian female, heterosexual male or gay male). Participants read descriptions of a job and a job applicant and then evaluated the applicant.

The results supported a moderated mediation model where participant group moderated the interaction of applicant gender and job gender-type in predicting perceptions of competence, which in turn predicted perceptions of person-job fit, likeability and respect-worthiness, which then predicted hiring decisions. Undergraduate student participants, but not working adults with hiring experience, evaluated female applicants applying for a male-typed job in a manner consistent with gender stereotypes and were less likely to hire the female applicant than the male applicant.

To inform HRM practice, research must reflect real-world decision-making. The literature on the roles of gender stereotypes and bias in hiring, and other important HRM decisions, relies heavily on undergraduate student participants. Findings of this study suggest a need to further examine whether those studies can be generalized to working adults actually making those decisions.

Although allies have been shown to be effective at helping to ignite positive change for marginalized groups, the literature on ally identity development is fragmented.

We draw from developmental, contextual, and identity theories to review the existing literature and focus squarely on the ally experience, resulting in a synthesized process-based conceptualization of ally identity development.

At each stage, we discuss intrapersonal experiences individuals are likely to have internally, interpersonal experiences that are likely to occur with others, and catalysts for progression to subsequent stages. In doing so, we outline the multilevel factors that influence and are influenced by ally development in hopes of identifying what motivates or dissuades individuals from becoming more active allies.

We provide practitioners and scholars with a deeper understanding of the organizational and societal benefits associated with allyship behaviors, as well as tools for increasing their presence within organizations.

Even more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination toward a number of groups in employment settings in the United States, workplace discrimination remains a persistent problem in organizations. This chapter provides a comprehensive review and analysis of contemporary theory and evidence on the nature, causes, and consequences of discrimination before synthesizing potential methods for its reduction. We note the strengths and weaknesses of this scholarship and highlight meaningful future directions. In so doing, we hope to both inform and inspire organizational and scholarly efforts to understand and eliminate workplace discrimination.

Purpose: This study examines the affective dimension of racial threat. Most modern studies of threat are framed through Blumer's group position theory and measure threat as increases in levels of traditional racism or perceptions of competition. These measurements neglect to operationalize Blumer's affective conceptualizations of threat.

Methodology/Approach: Building on Blumer's theoretical framework, we outline threat's affective dimension through a presentation of new survey items designed to capture what threat feels like.

Findings: Using factor and regression analyses, we demonstrate how affect is distinct from perceived competition, and how it is positively associated with Blumer's theoretically predicted outcome of racial prejudice, in the form of increased levels of racial resentment.

Practical Implications: Future research by sociologists and other social and behavioral scientists should explicitly consider threat's affective dimension in order to provide a more robust picture of racial prejudice in the United States.

As we saw in Chapter 3, there are two aspects of individualism and “personhood.” In the first instance, “personhood” gives individuals more options in negotiating their identities in society. But “individualism” also means that persons are also held individually liable for the achievement of societal goals. Displaying civic responsibility is after all part of the modern definition of proper citizens.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of caste identity in applied settings. The authors do this within the larger framework of affirmative action programs (AAPs) or “reservations” in India. The paper explores the interplay of a primordial identity like caste with the modern institutions representing equality – a context unique to India.

The paper reports the findings of two experimental studies collecting data using Mechanical Turk.

The first study finds that an individual hired under the AAP is perceived poorly on his/her competence and reward worthiness. The second study finds support for the influence of an individual’s conception of modern casteism and his/her caste identity as factors in shaping attitudes toward AAP.

The paper lays the groundwork but does not explore the contours of casteism in contemporary India. Understanding of this construct as well as the impact of factors as region, education, urbanization, religion, nature of employment, etc. on caste dynamics should be considered by future research.

The paper uncovers some similarities between Indian and Western findings, but it also demonstrates key differences between findings related to race-based AAPs in the West and the caste-based AAP in India. This understanding will guide discourses on diversity management in under-researched countries like India. The findings can sensitize organizations to the need for addressing unconscious biases related to caste.

The paper underscores the continuing relevance of caste in modern India and the negative perceptions of lower castes. The paper finds that individuals with an appreciation of the subtle forms of casteism are sympathetic to programs that promote social equality. In modern social contexts this nuanced operationalization of casteism can be a relevant indicator of caste dynamics.

This is the first empirical study to examine caste-based AAP in India in an applied study and unpacks the psychological underpinnings of the attitudes toward AAP.