Page 390 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

15. COMBATING ORGANIZATIONAL DISCRIMINATION
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There is research evidence that supports the argument that stigmati­
zation results from affirmative action efforts. Garcia, Erkine, Hawn, and
Casmay (1981) found that the qualifications of minority graduate student
applicants were rated less favorably when the university's affirmative ac­
tion plan was highlighted, than when there was no mention of affirmative
action. Similarly, Summers (1991) found that evaluations of female man­
agers were influenced negatively when an organization was portrayed as
being committed to an affirmative action policy. Northcraft and Martin
(1982) found that when a Black investment banker was purported to have
been an affirmative action hire, respondents were more likely to pair him
with a poor resume than when evaluating Whites or Blacks not associated
with affirmative action. Finally, Jacobson and Koch (1977) found that fe­
male managers were more likely to be perceived as the cause of a team's
failure, yet not given credit for its success, when she had been selected
because of her sex rather than her merit or because of chance.
Attribution theory, particularly Kelley's work on the discounting prin­
ciple (Kelley, 1987), offers an explanation as to why being associated with
affirmative action has such negative repercussions. According to Kelley, in­
dividuals use the discounting principle when faced with several possible
causes for an effect. In the case of affirmative action, the mere suggestion of
the policy, because it is presumed to entail preferential selection based on
demographic group membership, offers an alternate, salient, and plausible
reason for a person's hire, independent of his/her job qualifications. Con­
sequently, the importance of the role of the person's qualifications in the
decision process is "discounted"—the individual is thought to be hired
primarily because of his/her gender or minority status, with qualifica­
tions having been only incidental to the decision-making process. Because
qualifications are typically so critical to personnel decision making, the
assumption that they did not play a central role is likely to lead to the fur­
ther assumption that the person is not competent and would never have
obtained the position without the help of affirmative action (Pettigrew &
Martin, 1987). Thus, the perceived disregard of established decision criteria
gives rise to inferences of incompetence.

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

A series of studies was conducted to directly examine whether being la­
beled as an affirmative action beneficiary does indeed produce a stigma
of incompetence. In the first study, reported in Heilman, Block, and Lucas
(1992), we sought to determine whether women associated with an affir­
mative action program would be viewed as less competent than men and