What about diversity? The effect of organizational economic inequality on the perceived presence of women and ethnic minority groups

Abstract

Economic inequality shapes the degree to which people and different social groups are perceived in stereotypical ways. Our research sought to investigate the impact of the perception of economic inequality in an organizational setting on expectations of social diversity in the organization’s workforce, across the dimensions of gender and ethnicity. Combining data from previous experiments, we first explored in one set of studies (Studies 1a and 1b; N = 378) whether the degree of economic inequality in a fictitious organization affected participants’ expectations of the representation of minority vs. majority group employees. We found that when we presented an organization with unequal (vs. equal) distribution of economic wealth amongst its employees to study participants, they expected the presence of men and White majority individuals to be larger than the presence of women and ethnic minorities. Second, we tested our hypotheses and replicated these initial effects in a pre-registered study (Study 2: N = 449). Moreover, we explored the potential mediating role of perceived diversity climate, that is, the perception that the organization promotes and deals well with demographic diversity. Findings revealed that an organizational setting that distributed resources unequally (vs. equally) was associated with a more adverse diversity climate, which, in turn, correlated with expectations of a lower presence of minority group employees in the organization. We concluded that economic inequality creates a context that modulates perceptions of a climate of social exclusion which likely affects the possibilities for members of disadvantaged groups to participate and develop in organizations.

Evaluación de (in)justicia distributiva en jóvenes de Centroamérica

“…Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras son países en los cuales las pandillas y la violencia asociada a esta tiene un fuerte arraigo (López, 2019). Este círculo entre violencia y criminalidad produce que, a priori, las jóvenes sean excluidas del ámbito laboral, se limiten sus ofertas laborales a las organizaciones delictivas y que las actividades laborales autogeneradas sean inviables (Moreno-Bella et al, 2022;2023). Al ver afectadas sus oportunidades para la movilidad social por razones que escapan a su control, las jóvenes sienten injusticia respecto a su situación, lo que se extrapola a una evaluación de que la situación a nivel país también es injusta.…”

Upholding the Social Hierarchy

“…A substantial body of empirical work suggests that when perceived economic inequality is high (vs. low), people tend to infer that other people are more masculine, individualistic, and competitive (Moreno-Bella et al, 2019; Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2019; Sommet et al, 2019) and also prefer a strong national leader (Sprong et al, 2019). Indeed, people associate economic inequality with a higher presence of advantaged and high-status groups (Fiske et al, 2002) to the detriment of a more diverse climate (Moreno-Bella et al, 2022). In other words, economic inequality is also related to other forms of social inequalities.…”

“…While these studies imply a positive relationship between economic inequality and agency, there is limited evidence for the causal direction between these constructs. Some scholars have argued that economic inequality has a causal effect on agency (Connor et al, 2021) and contributes to the formation of perceptions regarding other types of inequalities (e.g., ethnic and gender; Moreno-Bella et al, 2022). Here, we propose that the reverse causal relationship may also be plausible, as highly agentic people would prefer the groups and societies to which they belong to be more unequal.…”

Wage (in)equality matters: the effect of organizational economic inequality on others’ and self-ascriptions

“…Despite the relevance of pay dispersion in organizational settings for the rise of economic disparities at a societal level (Amis et al, 2018;Atkinson, 2015), it has received little attention outside of organizational psychology (Bapuji, 2015;Ronay et al, 2018). An organization in which earnings and social dynamics play a major role could be a relevant context to study the consequences of perceived economic inequality (Moreno-Bella, Kulich, et al, 2022;Stainback et al, 2010). The decline of earnings among low-and middle-wage workers and, at the same time, the increase of high-wage earning gains are clear symptoms of economic inequality, may contribute to the growth of inequality in society (Mouw & Kalleberg, 2010;Saez, 2008).…”