Caren B. Goldberg

Does social identity theory underlie relational demography? A test of the moderating effects of uncertainty reduction and status enhancement on similarity effects

Relational demography research has its roots in social identity theory. However, prior research has not directly tested the effects of the two primary motives of social identification; uncertainty reduction and status enhancement. In this study, we examined the moderating effects of these motives on the relationship between demographic similarity and individuals’ affective reactions toward their work group. Uncertainty reduction, which we operationalized as self-continuity, moderated the relationship between race similarity and cohesiveness. In addition, status enhancement moderated both race and gender similarity effects on the group outcomes. We discuss implications of our findings for theory and research.

Asymmetrical demography effects on psychological climate for gender diversity: Differential effects of leader gender and work unit gender composition among Swedish doctors

This research examined the association between gender composition of the work context and perceived reward and social outcomes for women and men. A nationally representative sample of 594 male and 430 female Swedish medical doctors responded to a survey asking them to report the gender composition of their medical unit, the gender of their immediate supervisors, and the gender of the head of their work organizations. Participants also responded to previously validated measures of perceived fairness, discrimination, organizational support, exclusion, and gender harassment. Findings indicated that: 1) women who worked in medical units with a larger percentage of men reported more gender harassment; 2) women who had a male supervisor reported less organizational support; and 3) women who worked in an organization with a male head reported more gender discrimination. For men, gender composition was unrelated to any of the outcome measures.

The Impact of Training and Conflict Avoidance on Responses to Sexual Harassment

This study used a pretest/posttest design and included a control group to examine the impact of harassment training on intended responses to harassment. The sample consisted of 282 full-time professionals. At time 2, trainees expressed lower intentions to confront the perpetrator than did control-group participants. The simple and moderating effects of conflict avoidance on response intentions were also tested. Conflict avoidance was significantly negatively related to formally reporting gender harassment and sexual attention harassment and interacted with training to predict these outcomes. Practical implications of the results for organizations implementing harassment training programs are discussed.

Antecedents and outcomes of targeting older applicants in recruitment

Inspired by Rynes and Barbers and Avery and McKays theoretical work, we examined factors that influence organizations’ decision to target older applicants and the influence of this decision on other recruiting strategies. Our study of two samples of HR professionals provides mixed support for these theoretical frameworks. Incumbent age and an organizational climate that rewards diversity were related to targeting older workers, whereas an ageist climate and labour market tightness were not. Further, the decision to target older applicants was related to the number of recruitment sources used and, in one sample, an emphasis on work environment benefits. However, this decision was not related to an emphasis on financial stability benefits or to recruiter age.

Are They True to the Cause? Beliefs About Organizational and Unit Commitment to Sexual Harassment Awareness Training:

Sexual harassment awareness training is crucial for both legal defensibility purposes and for creating a psychologically safe environment for employees. Using a pretest/posttest design in an organizational setting, this study examined the simple and interactive effects of two individual perceptions toward the training context—cynicism toward organizational harassment change and perceived unit ethical climate—on posttraining knowledge and myth-based attitudes regarding sexual harassment. With the exception of a marginally significant effect of cynicism on posttraining knowledge, the outcomes were largely unaffected by either of the predictors, individually. However, cynicism toward organizational harassment change and perceived unit ethical climate interacted to predict both outcomes, such that training outcomes particularly suffer when individuals are cynical toward organizational change and perceive the work group as unethical. This underscores the importance of consideration of both organizational and work group levels of context simultaneously, in evaluating effectiveness, as well as the need for the organization to communicate a congruent harassment-free workplace message at both the unit and organizational levels. In addition, we examined the mediating role of motivation to learn on these relationships but found no evidence of indirect effects. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.