Description
Individuals can be affiliated to multiple social categories, and can use identity-management to strategically shift how they categorize themselves according to the expected situational outcomes. In the context of organizations, cultural minority employees could experience a dual identity when the overarching identity (the organization as a whole) and the subgroup identity (cultural minority background) are both psychologically relevant.Based on the Rejection-Identification Model, we expect that when employees experience threat of their cultural minority identity, they will identify more with their subgroup identity and less with the overarching identity. While this greater identification with the minority group may lead to positive effects for well-being, it may also have negative effects on individual work outcomes. Specifically, we hypothesize that prejudice and discrimination at work will be
associated with negative individual work outcomes, and that these effects will be mediated by identity management. Cultural minority employees will identify more with the minority subgroup, and less with the organization, leading to more negative work outcomes. Additionally, we focus on inclusion as a potential buffer in the link between prejudice at work and work outcomes.
We tested our hypotheses with two online cross-sectional survey studies among cultural majority and cultural minority employees (N = 305) in Dutch organizations. Both studies provided support for the identity management effects of prejudice for cultural minority employees, and the associated work outcomes. Perceived inclusion partially mediated the relationship between perceived prejudice and work outcomes, reducing the negative effects.
| Period | 21 Apr 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event title | ASPO congres 2023 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Utrecht, NetherlandsShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | National |