Page 368 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

14. LAW AND PSYCHOLOGY
have also been demonstrated to exist (e.g., Banaji & Green wald, 1995). Peo­
ple may be racist or sexist without being aware of their biases, which can
then lead to discriminatory behaviors.
Automatic Processing and Disparate Treatment 335
Stereotypes can be activated automatically by exposure to the relevant fea­
tures of a stereotyped individual, such as sex or gender characteristics or
skin color (Devine, 1989). Devine's work makes the point that virtually
everyone in society knows (even if he or she does not believe) the negative
stereotypes of African Americans as lazy or women as weak. These stereo­
types are activated in the mind automatically, often outside the scope of
awareness, when women, African Americans, or members of other stereo­
typed groups are encountered. Her work also shows that the active pres­
ence of these stereotypes can affect judgments even in persons who do
not consciously believe the stereotypes and the effect can occur without
awareness. A White candidate may be viewed as more intelligent and hard
working by a supervisor who truly believes that his or her assessments are
based on judgments unrelated to race. Automatic stereotypes can also be
activated by constructs that are part of the stereotype (Banaji, Hardin, &
Rothman, 1993). For example, a person focusing on the concept of "care­
giving" may subsequently rate a female as giving greater care than persons
who do not have stereotype-related constructs presented to them.
If the perceiver could choose not to act on the stereotype, which im­
plicitly requires that the perceiver be aware of the stereotype possibility,
discrimination need not arise. If Pohansky knew that he held stereotypes
about Black women that involved their ability to clean, but chose not to act
on his stereotypes and instead selected the women for other reasons—say,
because they were, in fact, excellent cleaners—he would not have engaged
in illegal discrimination. His behavior would involve an effortful, con­
scious choice to overcome his stereotype.
Much research has investigated the possibility of effortful control to
avoid acting upon automatically activated stereotypes. Evidence implicat­
ing the capacity of conscious effort to override automatic stereotyping was
presented by Fiske, who reported that an emphasis on teamwork, on ac­
curacy and accountability in evaluation, and on upper-level commitment
to eradicating stereotypes from the workplace can eliminate the applica­
tion of stereotyping (Fiske, 1989). Fiske's argument was that motivational
control can affect the choice to act on stereotypes. Research also indicated
that less prejudiced responses may be given when people are induced to
do so, for example by strong social norms against prejudice (Gaertner &
Dovidio, 1986; Monteith, Deneen, & Tooman, 1996).