Page 215 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

RAGINS AND WIETHOFF
184
200la). Companies that lack protective policies and practices may foster
a climate of heterosexism in the workplace (Button, 2001). For example,
Ragins and Cornwell (2001 a) found that gay and lesbian employees were
less likely to report sexual orientation discrimination in organizations that
(a) had written policies forbidding it, (b) included sexual orientation dis­
crimination in their definition of diversity, or (c) offered same-sex domes­
tic partner benefits. In fact, although the presence of protective legislation
and gay coworkers were significantly related to reduced reports of dis­
crimination, the overriding variable affecting reported discrimination was
the presence of gay-friendly organizational policies and practices. A par­
ticularly interesting finding was that of all the gay-friendly practices and
policies examined, inviting same-sex partners to company social events
had the strongest relationship to reduced reports of workplace discrim­
ination. This practice reflects a climate that is not only inclusive of gay
employees, but also promotes and reflects a high comfort level in social in­
teractions with them. Work climate is clearly a key predictor of workplace
heterosexism (Button, 2001; Driscoll, Kelley, & Fassinger, 1996), and other
research indicates that heterosexism is positively related to perceptions that
the employer lacks antidiscrimination policies, does not take such policies
seriously, and will permit the open expression of heterosexist attitudes in
the workplace (Monteith, 1996; Waldo, 1999).
Group Level Antecedents

Heterosexism in the workplace may be affected by a number of group-
level factors. First, we can examine the influence of the group's relational
demography on individual and group outcomes. Relational demography
theory is based on the principle that the more similar the individual is
to the work group, the more positive will be the individual's work atti­
tudes and behaviors (Riordan, 2000). In support of relational demography
predictions, Ragins, Cornwell & Miller (2003) found that gay and lesbian
employees with gay supervisors or primarily gay work groups were more
likely to be out at work and reported less heterosexism than those who
worked in mostly heterosexual work teams. In addition, gay and lesbian
employees were more likely to disclose their sexual identity when they
had supervisors of the same race or ethnicity, regardless of the supervi-
sor's sexual orientation. However, no support was found for demography
predictions regarding gender similarity, perhaps because these predictions
assume that gender similarity dispels underlying sexual tensions or other
relational difficulties, which may not be the case for gay and lesbian em­
ployees.