Barry M. Goldman

Employment Discrimination in Organizations: Antecedents and Consequences

This article reviews the research on employment discrimination in organizations. It focuses on discrimination perceptions, charges, and lawsuits and discusses the consequences of discrimination. Among the conclusions are the following: (a) The proportion of claimants filing under different antidiscrimination statutes differs by race; (b) the area needs theories that can explain wide variance in perceptions of events; (c) the consequences of discrimination are best viewed from individual, group, and organizational levels; and (d) if the results of instruments are used in legal settings, social scientists should pay careful attention to reliability and validity, as well as standards of legally admissible evidence.

When Push doesn't Come to Shove Interpersonal Forgiveness in Workplace Relationships

This article develops the construct of workplace forgiveness by drawing from several relevant literatures. Forgiveness is defined as a process by which an offended worker cognitively acknowledges the wrongfulness of an injurious act and deliberately chooses to release negative emotions and inhibit the desire for revenge. In contrast to revenge, forgiveness may repair damaged workplace relationships in the aftermath of a personal offense. The authors conclude with a research agenda in the form of objectives that provides researchers with a plan for investigating forgiveness.

The Application of Referent Cognitions Theory to Legal-Claiming by Terminated Workers: The Role of Organizational Justice and Anger

This research utilizes referent cognitions theory (RCT, Folger, 1993) to investigate the filing of discrimination legal-claims by terminated workers. Specifically, three questions are investigated: (1) whether procedural, distributive, and interactional justice interact to predict discrimination legal-claiming; (2) whether state anger (a reaction to a situation) partially mediates the relationship between the three-way interaction of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice, and legal-claiming; and (3) whether trait anger (a dispositional trait) moderates the relationship between this three-way justice interaction and legal-claiming. Five hundred eighty-three terminated employees were surveyed at unemployment insurance offices on the east coast. The results support predictions that a three-way justice interaction predicts legal-claiming, that state anger is a partial mediator of this relationship, and that trait anger moderates the relationship between the three-way justice interaction and lega...

Perceptions of Discrimination: A Multiple Needs Model Perspective

The multiple needs model of justice was used to understand employee reactions to perceived discrimination. In particular, the fulfillment of the three needs discussed in that model—economic, interpersonal, and deontic (ethical)—were tested as consequences of perceived discrimination and as antecedents of job attitudes and turnover intentions. A representative sample of the U.S. workforce (N = 5,605) rated the three needs-fulfillment variables while also rating their perceptions of discrimination, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave. The proposed model was supported. This study extends research on perceived discrimination by proposing a role for the multiple needs model of justice through the use of a specific and important role for needs fulfillment. It also extends support for the multiple needs model of justice.

The role of ideology in mediated disputes at work: a justice perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes, impact, and resolution of ideological conflicts in the workplace. By integrating research on organizational justice, the paper aims to argue that ideological discord is engendered though the interaction of distributive, procedural, and interactional (un)fairness.Design/methodology/approach – Using a longitudinal field study, the ideas were tested with a sample of 77 claimants, undergoing mediation through the USA. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).Findings – The results were generally supportive of all predictions, suggesting that, though injustice may cause troublesome ideological conflicts, fair dispute resolution interventions can provide a remedy.Originality/value – The research documented in this paper is particularly important because it suggests that justice can be restored through the intervention of a neutral mediator.

The role of third parties/mediation in managing conflict in organizations

R. Pritchard, Foreword. Part 1. Introduction: Setting the Stage. C.K.W. De Dreu, M.J. Gelfand, Conflict in the Workplace: Sources, Functions, and Dynamics Across Multiple Levels of Analysis. D. Jaffee, Conflict at Work Throughout the History of Organizations. Part 2. Interpersonal and Group Levels of Analysis. M. Olekalns, L.L. Putnam, L.R. Weingart, L. Metcalf, Communication Processes and Conflict Management. B. Beersma, D.E. Conlon, J.R. Hollenbeck, Conflict and Group Decision Making: The Role of Social Motivation. S. Schulz-Hardt, A. Mojzisch, F. Vogelgesang, Dissent as a Facilitator: Individual and Group-Level Effects on Creativity and Performance. K.A. Jehn, K. Bezrukova, S. Thatcher, Conflict, Diversity, and Faultlines in Workgroups. J.L. Raver, J. Barling, Workplace Aggression and Conflict: Constructs, Commonalities, and Challenges for Future Inquiry. D.G. Pruitt, Conflict Escalation in Organizations. P.E. Spector, V. Bruk-Lee, Conflict, Health, and Well-Being. Part 3. Organizational Levels of Analysis. B.M. Goldman, R. Cropanzano, J. Stein, L. Benson, The Role of Third Parties/Mediation in Managing Conflict in Organizations. J. Olson-Buchanan, W.R. Boswell, Organizational Dispute Resolution Systems. R. Friedman, L. Hunter, Y. Chen, Union-Management Conflict: Historical Trends and New Directions. D.J. Terry, C.E. Amiot, Social Identification Processes, Conflict, and Fairness Concerns in Intergroup Mergers. Part 4. Commentaries. K. Smith-Crowe, A.P. Brief, E.E. Umpress, On the Outside Looking in: Window Shopping for Insights into Diversity-driven Conflict. D.M. Kolb, Making Sense of an Elusive Phenomenon. P.J. Carnevale, Theory of Conflict in the Workplace: Whence and Whither. D. Tjosvold, Conflicts in the Study of Conflict in Organizations.

GOAL-DIRECTEDNESS AND PERSONAL IDENTITY AS CORRELATES OF LIFE OUTCOMES

Although much research has been conducted on goal setting, researchers have not examined goal-directedness or propensity to set goals as a stable human characteristic in adults. In this study, a survey was developed and distributed to 104 adult participants to assess their goal-directedness, personal identity, and various life outcomes. A theoretical model was developed and tested using structural equation modeling that proposed that both goal-directedness and personal identity should positively influence important life outcomes. Analysis showed that goal-directedness and personal identity are positively related to personal well-being, salary, and marital satisfaction. Further, personal identity was positively related to job satisfaction but, contrary to related research, goal-directedness did not predict job satisfaction.

Towards an understanding of the role of anticipatory justice in the employment dispute-resolution process: An investigation of EEOC-sponsored mediation

Purpose The paper aims to investigate why organizations often opt to reject Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)-sponsored mediation of employment disputes (in contrast to employees who tend to readily agree to it). It is guided by recent research associated with Shapiro and Kirkman’s (1999, 2001) theory of “anticipatory justice”, whereby (in)justice is anticipated, or expected, when people think about an event they have not yet experienced whose likely fairness they are questioning. In contrast, “organizational justice” reflects people’s retrospective assessments of how fair they have been treated to date. Design/methodology/approach The paper relied upon data made available by the mediation program administered by the US EEOC. The EEOC provided the names and contact information for the officially designated EEOC contacts for each dispute. The authors distributed surveys to each of these organizational representatives and received completed surveys from 492 organizations (a response rate of 85.8 per cent). Findings The authors tested the extent to which organizational representatives’ decision to accept or reject mediation as a means of settling discrimination claims is influenced by representatives’ expectation of more versus less fair treatments – by the opposing party as well as by the third-party mediator – during the mediation procedure. The pattern of findings in the study support all hypotheses and, thus, also the expectation-oriented theories that have guided them. Research limitations/implications The study relies on self-reports. However, this concern is somewhat lessened because of the salience and recency of events to the time of surveying. Practical implications The paper provides new insights on the need for organizations to implement rules, policies and procedures to constrain decision-maker choices consistent with organizational goals. The authors offer specific procedural proposals to reduce this organizational tendency to reject mediation. Social implications Employee grievances are costly to organizations in terms of finances, reputation and to the emotional climate of the organization. Moreover, it is similarly costly to employees. This study provides new insights to better understand why employees (as opposed to organizations) are almost three times more likely to elect mediation of employment disputes. As such, it offers some promising ideas to narrow that gap. Originality/value The paper investigates a little-studied phenomenon – the differential participation rate of employees versus organizations in EEOC-sponsored mediation.

Subjective Value during Sequential Negotiations: The Mediating Effect of Anger

We investigated the implications of subjective value perceptions for the conduct of sequential negotiations. Sequential negotiations are characterized by multiple negotiation sessions that occur within a relatively short period of time, but with different counterparts. According to our theoretical model, the outcome of an antecedent negotiation can influence individuals’ level of anger and subjective value in a subsequent negotiation. Anger, in one negotiation, negatively impacts subjective value perceptions beyond the effect of objective outcomes. Subsequently, subjective value spills over and is negatively related to outcomes obtained in a later bargaining session, at least partially mediating the effects of initial outcome and anger. We investigate these possibilities in two studies, an experiment with a student sample and a field study with employees who were negotiating as part of their jobs. Results were supportive in each case.