Page 44 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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2. INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL DISCRIMINATION
strengthen, however, when perceivers rely on group-based information.
Social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and self-categorization theory
(Turner, 1985) further emphasize that when personal identity is salient, a
person's individual needs, standards, beliefs, and motives primarily deter­
mine behavior; in contrast, when social identity is salient, collective needs,
goals, and standards are primary.
As illustrated in Fig. 2.1, social categorization of others systematically
influences how people react in terms of evaluations (general evaluative
bias), how they think about others (cognitive processing biases and stereo­
typing), and how they feel (general affective biases and differentiated emo­
tions). Although affective and cognitive reactions have been hypothesized
to be separate systems, with affect being the more basic and immediate sys­
tem (Zajonc, 1980), both processes are initiated with social categorization.
Moreover, these processes jointly influence outcomes, which we consider
next.

General Consequences of Social Categorization

One of the most basic forms of social categorization is the classification of
people into ingroup and outgroup members. Even when the basis of the
assignment is arbitrary, this mere categorization is sufficient to create an
overall evaluative bias: People categorized as members of one's own group
are evaluated more favorably than are those categorized as members of
another group. This bias occurs spontaneously and is most pronounced for
prototypical group members (see Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, for a review).
Social categorization also influences how people process information
about others in fundamental ways. Perceptually, when people or objects
are categorized into groups, actual differences between members of the
same category tend to be minimized and often to be ignored in making de­
cisions or forming impressions, whereas between-group differences tend
to become exaggerated (Turner, 1985). People retain more detailed and
more positive information about ingroup than outgroup members, strate­
gically recall why ingroup members are similar and outgroup members
are dissimilar to the self, and work harder for ingroups (see Gaertner &
Dovidio, 2000).
The process of social categorization also influences affective reactions.
As Insko et al. (2001) demonstrated, categorization in terms of group mem­
bership rather than individual identity evokes greater feelings of fear and
lower levels of trust in interactions with others. General anxiety may be
aroused in intergroup settings for a number of additional reasons, such as
unfamiliarity with group members, hostility, self-presentational concerns,
and distrust (Stephan & Stephan, 1985).