Isms and schisms: A meta-analysis of the prejudice-discrimination relationship across racism, sexism, and ageism

ORCID Identifiers

0000-0002-4285-929X

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Journal of Organizational Behavior

Publication Date

9-1-2017

Abstract

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Racism, sexism, and ageism persist in modern day organizations and may translate into workplace discrimination, which can undermine organizational effectiveness. We provide the first meta-analysis comparing the relationships between these three types of prejudice (racism, sexism, and ageism) and three types of workplace discrimination (selection, performance evaluation, and opposition to diversity-supportive policies). Across outcomes, racism was associated with workplace discrimination, whereas sexism was not. Ageism was associated with discriminatory selection and opposition to organizational policies supporting older workers; however, ageism was not related to discriminatory performance evaluation. Consistent with prior research and theory, Implicit Association Test measures were related to subtle discrimination (opposition to diversity-supportive policies) but not deliberate discrimination (selection and performance evaluation). Finally, prejudice was more strongly associated with discrimination against real as compared with hypothetical targets. Implications for organizational researchers and practitioners are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ISSN

0894-3796

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Volume

38

Issue

7

First Page

1076

Last Page

1110

Disciplines

Law | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

ageism, discrimination, meta-analysis, racism, sexism

Scopus ID

85014650332

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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