Page 327 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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the effects of attractiveness on sexual harassment, supervision, mentoring,
feedback, goal setting, and other varieties of treatment in the workplace.
Except for one study examining the relationship of attractiveness to sexual
harassment (Ellis, Barak, & Pinto, 1991), these behavioral manifestations
of attractiveness bias have been ignored. Just as the perceiver's expecta­
tions can influence treatment of the target, the expectations of the target
can influence how that individual acts with regard to the perceiver. A per­
son who expects to be discriminated against acts in a way that fulfills this
expectation. Thus, future research also needs to examine the behavior of
the target person and its role in perpetuating and reversing attractiveness
biases.
IMPLICATIONS FOR CHANGE

The cognitive, affective, behavioral, and social antecedents each suggest
an intervention to eliminate appearance bias. To the extent that these bi­
ases are based on cognitive conceptions, then it may be sufficient to in­
dividuate the target person by providing specific information. Consistent
with this possibility, Eagly et al. (1991) found that the strength of the at­
tractiveness stereotype was weakened when specific data were provided
on the characteristics and qualifications of the person. Similarly, Watkins
and Johnston (2000) found that bias against unattractive applicants was
most pronounced when the applicants had mediocre qualifications but not
when they had clear high qualifications. Another suggestion is to change
the cognitive structures of the rater or judge. Along these lines, Bartunek,
Gordon, and Weathersby (1983) propose strategies for developing "com­
plicated" understanding in administrators that include requiring that they
take the role of others, surfacing and challenging their assumptions, and
requiring them to work on ill-structured problems. Similarly, Wagner and
Schonbach (1984) hypothesized that cognitive complexity is a mediator
of the decrease in stereotyping of outgroups that commonly results from
increases in education.
To the extent that the bias against unattractive persons reflects social
pressures, elimination of this bias requires interventions to change the
norms and the culture of the group and organization. The first step is
to make organizational members aware of the core values of the organiza­
tion and to decouple appearance norms from these values. Organizational
members need to be shown how persons who differ in marked ways can
still share the values that really count. Changing norms also may mean
changing dress and appearance codes and modifying or eliminating ap­
pearance ratings in selection interviews and performance appraisals.