Page 326 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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12. PHYSICALLY UNATTRACTIVE BIAS
with appearance norms as an attempt to reduce uncertainty. Essentially,
people who are like "us" can be better trusted than those who look differ­
ent. Kanter further proposes that people who do not "fit in" are clustered in
those parts of management with the least uncertainty. "They are in places
where what to do and how to judge its doing tend to be more routine. They
are found in increasing numbers away from the top, and they are found in
staff positions where they serve as technical specialists" (p. 55).
The dominant culture in an organization uses appearance along with
other cultural artifacts, such as dress, to express core values that are to be
shared by organizational members. For example, Martin and Siehl (1983)
described an implicit dress code in GM in the 1960s that appeared to ex­
press the core values of respecting authority, fitting in, and being loyal.
As the dominant culture exerts pressure for conformity on organizational
members, the organization can become increasingly homogeneous. Schnei­
der (1987) suggests in his attraction-selection-attrition model that this ho­
mogenization of the organization occurs as the consequence of recruiting,
selection, and socialization practices. Applicants are attracted to those or­
ganizations that appear to fit their values, and the organization, in turn,
screens out those whose values do not appear to fit the culture. Those
who do not fit are more likely to leave. Physical looks can enter into
the process by serving as a signal to prospective employees of what the
organization is like. In turn, recruiters and other gatekeepers prefer ap­
plicants who "look the part" over those with less desirable appearances.
As present employees see fewer exceptions to the norm, the modal value
becomes an ideal that further discourages the recruiting of nontraditional
applicants.

Attractiveness Bias as a Behavioral Effect

In examining attractiveness biases, the most frequent approach has been
to use passive-observer procedures where the judge watches and eval­
uates with no opportunity to interact with the ratee. One might expect
that when the perceiver and the perceived can interact, this would pro­
vide an opportunity for the perceiver to overcome his or her biases. This
would suggest that attractiveness biases are attenuated in situations in
which there is interaction and an opportunity to become familiar with
the target person (Jones et al., 1984). However, it is also possible that in­
teraction can perpetuate or even magnify these biases as the result of self-
fulfilling prophecies (Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid, 1977). Prior expectations
for how persons of different appearance will behave can shape how these
persons are treated and differences in treatment can evoke responses that
fulfill the original expectations. Clearly, future research needs to examine