Page 298 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

11. PERSONALITY-BASED UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION
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THE NEGATIVE AFFECTIVITY CONSTRUCT
As noted above, a major focus of this chapter is on the stigmatizing effects
of negative affectivity in organizational contexts. Conceptually, negative
affectivity (NA) has been viewed as a mood-dispositional dimension "that
reflects pervasive individual differences in negative emotionality and self-
concept. High-NA individuals tend to be distressed and upset and have a
negative view of [the] self, whereas those low on the dimension are rela­
tively content and secure and satisfied with themselves" (Watson& Clark,
1984, p. 465). In addition, as Watson and Clark contend, "the negative mood
states experienced by persons high in NA include subjective feelings of ner­
vousness, tension, and worry" (p. 465). As a result, they regard the trait of
anxiety as one of the central features of NA. Moreover, they argue that NA
is conceptually equivalent to the constructs of negative emotionality and
neuroticism.

Operational Definitions of Negative Affectivity

Operationally, NA has been indexed by measures of manifest anxiety, anx­
iety, trait anxiety, psychoneurosis, neuroticism, defensiveness, depression,
and ego strength. As documented by Watson and Clark (1984), these mea­
sures tend to correlate highly with one another. For example, the Eysenck
and Eysenck (1968) Neuroticism Scale correlates .81 with a commonly used
measure of anxiety, and .65 or above with a host of other measures of NA,
including depression, psychoneurosis, trait anxiety, subjective distress, and
defensiveness.

The Supposed Trait Nature of Negative Affectivity

It is critical to add that Watson and Clark (1984) and researchers concerned
with the use of NA in the prediction of various criteria in the context of
work organizations (e.g., Brief, Burke, George, Robinson, & Webster, 1988)
argue that NA is a trait. As such, they contend, it remains stable across
a wide variety of contexts. For example, Watson and Clark (1984) argued
that "NA primarily reflects individual differences in negative emotional­
ity that are maintained under all conditions, even in the absence of ex­
ternal stress" (p. 475). This is a critical point because it suggests that the
variance in various measures of NA (e.g., anxiety) is a function of stable
individual differences, not the nature of environments in which individ­
uals are found. The speciousness of this trait perspective is considered
below.