This study tested the effects of individual variables (prejudice level) and situational factors
(power instructions) on information seeking strategies, employee evaluation, estimation of
likely success, and task assignment in an employer – employee, ethnicity relevant
experimental design, with subjects always assigned the role of employer and an ostensibly
other person (a same gender black individual depicted in a photograph) assigned the role of
employee. Subjects (N=60) were categorized into groups that varied on power (exclusive or
inclusive leadership instruction) and prejudice (quartile split of MRS scores). Participants
were asked to select a subset of questions and tasks from various lists for the ostensibly other
subject to answer. Participants at a later point in the experiment rated selected questions and
tasks. At the end of the experiment the participants were asked to give a final employee
evaluation and estimation of likely success for a future project. Next to the attempt of replicating generally accepted and expected interrelations of power and prejudice with certain attention (information – seeking) strategies and the use of
stereotypes and their effect on evaluation and estimation, one of the main focuses of this
study is on the effects of the above variables on behavior (final task assignment).
Consistent with predictions participants with a low prejudice level assigned more
valued tasks, focused more on strength of the employee and estimated greater employee
success than did high prejudice participants. Also participants with inclusive leadership
instructions assigned relatively more skill tests with supporting help and estimated greater
employee success than participants with exclusive leadership instructions. Interaction -
effects across the skills test- information seeking-, employee evaluation-, final task
assignment-, and estimated success- variables showed that high prejudiced participants in the
exclusive leadership style condition respond in stereotype consistent ways significantly more
often than participants in the inclusive leadership condition and low prejudice participants. The Equal Opportunity- Illusion: The effects of prejudice and power on information seeking, employee evaluation, task assignment, and estimates of employee success
The front page of the New York Times on Friday, March 30th 2001 read “California
Census Confirms Whites Are In Minority – State now most diverse”. [...]
Table of Contents
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
Objectives and Topics
The research examines how individual prejudice levels and situational factors (leadership instructions) affect information-seeking strategies, employee evaluations, and task assignments in an employer-employee experimental design. It investigates whether stereotyping is a default tendency or a consequence of specific power-related situational contexts.
- The impact of power and prejudice on information seeking.
- The role of "Social Influence Strategy" in triggering stereotype-consistent behaviors.
- Distinction between "inclusive" and "exclusive" leadership styles.
- Mechanisms of behavioral confirmation in supervisor-subordinate interactions.
- Testing the "Social Influence X Stereotype Match Hypothesis".
Excerpt from the Book
The vicious circle of perpetual power and stereotype reinforcement
The preceding consideration might have made one thing already clear: Both stereotypes (or cognitive representations of outgroups) and prejudice (or one’s negative feelings about outgroups) may initiate a vicious circle in which biased perceptions and biased feeling reinforce one another. More specifically, sometimes power may enhance the use of stereotypes, with the latter surfacing in perceptual and/or behavioral biases. At other times the reliance on stereotypes contributes to a stratification of existing power differentials.
Therefore, on top of one-way effects of power on stereotyping and vice versa, as described above, we find that power and the two forms of stereotyping (perceptual and behavioral) may also continuously reinforce each other. Various studies (e.g. Goodwin, Operario and Fiske, 1998) show that situational control and interpersonal dominance (power) are conditions that promote motives to stereotype, leading to cognitive and judgment biases that in turn cumulatively reinforce the status quo and thereby exaggerating preexisting power differentials.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Provides a theoretical overview of power, stereotyping, and the "Power as Control" (PAC) model, while introducing the "Social Influence X Stereotype Match Hypothesis".
Method: Details the experimental design, participant selection based on prejudice scores, and the procedures for the getting-acquainted and task-assignment phases.
Results: Reports the statistical findings regarding how leadership instructions and participant prejudice levels interacted to influence information seeking, task assignment, and employee success estimates.
Discussion: Interprets the findings in the context of the social influence model, concluding that stereotyping is more fluid and situational than previously assumed.
Keywords
Power, Prejudice, Stereotyping, Social Influence, Information Seeking, Behavioral Confirmation, Leadership Styles, Employee Evaluation, Discrimination, Modern Racism Scale, Social Dominance, Situational Factors, Task Assignment, Impression Formation, Social Stratification.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The study investigates how individual prejudice levels and situational power dynamics influence how leaders perceive and interact with their subordinates, specifically regarding information gathering and task assignment.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include the relationship between power and stereotyping, the influence of leadership instructions on decision-making, and whether stereotyping is a default behavior or triggered by specific contexts.
What is the main research hypothesis?
The research tests the "Social Influence X Stereotype Match Hypothesis," which suggests that stereotypes are most likely to influence behavior when they align with the goal-oriented social influence strategy of the powerful individual.
Which scientific method is employed?
The study uses an ethnicity-relevant experimental design where participants act as team leaders in a simulated school revitalization project, choosing interview questions and assigning tasks to an ostensible Black subordinate.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The work covers theoretical conceptualizations of power, a critique of the "Power as Control" model, the introduction of an alternative hypothesis, and detailed results from an experimental study involving 60 participants.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include power, prejudice, stereotype confirmation, social influence strategies, and behavioral confirmation.
How does the "exclusive" leadership style affect results?
The study shows that high-prejudice participants under exclusive (punishment-focused) leadership instructions were more likely to adopt stereotype-consistent behaviors, such as assigning fewer valued tasks to the employee.
What makes this study distinct from previous research?
Unlike studies that rely solely on "attention" as a measure of stereotyping, this research focuses on behavioral consequences like information-seeking strategies and actual task assignments, integrating motivation as a critical factor.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Swen Heidenreich (Autor:in), 2003, The equal opportunity illusion: The effects of prejudice and power on information seeking, employee evaluation, task assignment, and estimates of employee success, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/30819
