Page 325 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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can serve an ego-defensive function, rejection of the unattractive may be a
way of protecting self-esteem. Research on the belief in a just world sug­
gests another possible motivational mechanism. People have a fundamen­
tal need to believe that people receive what they deserve (Lerner, 1980). An
unattractive person threatens this need and the observer attributes moral
failure to the unattractive person as a means of coping with the subsequent
anxiety. In support of this view, Dion and Dion (1987) found that those
who have a strong belief in a just world showed more pronounced differ­
ences in the attribution of socially desirable personality characteristics to
attractive and unattractive others than those with a lower belief in a just
world.
Social and Organizational Factors in Attractiveness Bias

The discussion of the cognitive and affective approaches would suggest
that bias against unattractive individuals is a reflection of the privately
held beliefs and feelings of the perceiver. However, bias against unattrac­
tive individuals in organizations may reflect compliance to social norms
rather than an expression of personal beliefs or feelings (Berman, O'Nan,
& Floyd, 1981). The type that seems most relevant is the "identity norm,"
which Goffman (1963) described as images of "ideal persons, consisting
of shared beliefs as to what persons should be." The ideal in the United
States, according to Goffman, is "young, married, white, urban, north­
ern, heterosexual Protestant father of college education, fully employed,
of good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent record in sports"
(p. 128). Also possibly indicative of the influence of normative influences
is evidence that participants of individualistic cultures are more likely to
stereotype on the basis of attractiveness than are participants of communal
cultures (Dion, Pak & Dion, 1990).
As is the case with any norm, appearance norms serve both an infor­
mational function in helping persons to predict, control, and understand
the behavior of others well as a social function in maintaining harmony
among group members and aiding in the achievement of goals (Deutsch
& Gerard, 1955). Moreover, norms for appearance are seen as emerging
from interactions of organizational members as they attempt to under­
stand, control, and predict organizational events (Ashforth, 1985). Kanter
(1977) commented on similar functions of appearance norms in Men and
Women of the Corporation, when she observed that "Managers at Indsco
had to look the part The norms were unmistakable, after a visitor saw
enough managers, invariably white and male, with a certain shiny, clean-
cut look An inappropriate appearance could be grounds for complaint
to higher management (p. 55)." Moreover, Kanter saw pressures to comply