Page 392 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

15. COMBATING ORGANIZATIONAL DISCRIMINATION
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types of positions; moreover, she was rated less favorably than female
hirees not associated with affirmative action. Interestingly male and fe­
male participants did not differ in their evaluations, suggesting that the
effect of the association with affirmative action on competence perceptions
is not contingent on the perceiver's sex. But, most importantly, these data
attested to the existence of a stigma of incompetence tainting beneficiaries
of affirmative action initiatives, and they illustrated the depth of its neg­
ative consequences. As predicted, the affirmative action label was shown
not only to worsen problems for women when merely being a woman
was problematic because of negative stereotypical expectations, but also
to create problems for women when their gender would not ordinarily have
resulted in negative perceptions of competence.
In order to gain insight into the processes underlying the negative ef­
fects of being associated with affirmative action, we obtained information
about the assumptions our participants were making about the procedures
used to select affirmative action beneficiaries. Results indicated that the af­
firmative action hirees were thought to have been hired far less on the basis
of their qualifications to do the job well than were either the female non-
affirmative action hirees or the male hirees. These findings are consistent
with the idea that "discounting" mediates the stigmatization process.
The results of the laboratory study provide strong support for the idea
that association with affirmative action gives rise to a stigma of incompe­
tence. Yet, despite the apparent clarity of these results, questions could and
should be raised about the degree to which they reflect the attitudes and
sentiments of those actually in the workplace. Indeed, the effects of affir­
mative action may be different in situations such as the workplace where
individuals have a great deal more information about each other. To ad­
dress this issue, we designed a field study (Heilman et al., 1992, Study 2)
to determine if the effects found in our lab would be paralleled by those
found in the field. Specifically, we were interested in exploring how beliefs
about the role affirmative action policies played in hiring decisions related
to competence evaluations of women and minority group members em­
ployed in nontraditional positions in actual organizations.
Respondents were recruited to complete a questionnaire in airports,
train stations, and outdoor sitting areas. All were White men ranging in
age from 25 to 57, currently employed in variety of industries. The cover
page informed the participant that the purpose of the survey was to get
a better understanding of working people's impressions of the changing
American workforce. Furthermore, it instructed participants to think of a
specific coworker who had joined their unit in the past few years and is
a member of a group that in the past did not typically have this type of
job, and to answer the questionnaire with that individual in mind. If the