Page 95 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

4. CROUP-LEVEL EXPLANATIONS
some arbitrary characteristic is enough to ignite discrimination (Bourhis,
Sachdev, & Gagnon, 1994). Categorization is a normal activity that likely
initiates the "us vs. them" mentality that often precedes prejudice and
discrimination. 65
The simplistic division of the world into ingroups and outgroups satis­
fies our own needs for identity and for a sense of worth. Ingroups provide
a sense of identity in that they enable us to learn from others similar to our­
selves, even if what we learn is stereotypical. According to the similarity-
attraction effect (Byrne, 1971), we are attracted to those people we presume
to be like ourselves. In addition, surrounding ourselves with members
of our identified ingroup provides consensual validation (Bochner, 1994).
That is, by surrounding ourselves with people we perceive to be similar
to ourselves, we avoid challenges to our beliefs, values, and worldview.
The similarity in beliefs, values, and worldviews offered by members of
our ingroup is validating and helps us to feel secure. The ingroup becomes
a source of reinforcement as well as pride. Outgroups help cement iden­
tity through the contrast they present; they inform us of who we are not.
Likewise, they facilitate our sense of worth through comparison because
in essence we typically see ourselves as superior or better than members
of our outgroups.
Self-categorization theory (SCT; Tajfel, 1982), an extension of social iden­
tity theory, stresses the cognitive function that drives social identity the­
ory. SCT's contribution to our understanding of group membership and
discrimination is that individuals enact a personal or social identity at dif­
ferent times. In fact, SCT suggests that we each have different group mem­
berships that we may call on and that these group memberships differ in
their level of inclusiveness. For example, employees within an organiza­
tion may see themselves as (a) members of humanity (the superordinate
level), (b) members of their organization (the intermediate level), or (c)
simply as unique individuals (the subordinate level). We have a choice of
which identity to enact at any given time, but our environment, including
the workplace, may drive which identity is most salient. Some identities,
such as a racial group identity, are more noticeable and accessible than
other group identities, such as one's professional identity. Therefore, being
a numeric minority because of some noticeable characteristics such as race
or gender may facilitate the choice of one's group identity over any other
identity available.
In organizations, social identity has consequences for members of or­
ganizations through its effects on issues such as organizational social­
ization and intergroup relations (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). For example,
Mehra, Kilduff, and Brass (1998) examined networking and friendship
patterns within an MBA program. Both women and racial minorities