Pamela Tolbert Michelle Duguid Cornell University
Scholars and activists have argued that placing women and racial/ethnic minorities in organizations' top tiers will help remedy some of the conditions that have limited their achievements. The rationale for this argument is derived, in part, from a similarity-attraction paradigm, which posits that people find it validating to interact with others who share similar attitudes and values. Demographic characteristics are often used as an index of attitudinal similarity; thus, individuals are likely to select others who are demographically similar when given a choice of partners. However, different empirical studies have linked demographic similarity to favorable, neutral and unfavorable evaluations, and to both positive and negative hiring decisions. This suggests that a similarity-attraction paradigm may hold true in some situations but not all, and raises the provocative possibility that those who may appear to be most likely to have a positive impact on organizational diversity and inclusion may choose to undermine this outcome or at the very least abdicate the opportunity to facilitate it. This project combines theoretical work on social group identification processes with findings from research on group demography to understand the conditions that affect the likelihood that individuals in groups in which they are numerical minorities will prefer similar to dissimilar others (and vice versa) and thus serve as advocates for their inclusion as new group members. The co-PI will use experimental design to study the interactive effects of group demography and candidates' relative competence on low-status subjects' support for adding similar others to the group.
The research advances the macro- and micro-sociological insights on inter- and intra-group relations by studying how psychological processes related to self-categorization are affected by the combined influences of social status and tokenism. This integration of theories is an important step in gaining a more complete understanding of intra-group relationships in situations in which enduring status differences between groups create negative or ambivalent feelings in mobile members of low-status groups about their group identity. Research findings will yield information that could inform policies aimed at reducing social inequality, in particular, barriers to the advancement of women and minorities in organizations, and therefore, could inform social and organizational policies that may help to overcome these barriers.
