Psychological Perspective Behind Discrimination in Workplace

Abstract

Over the last decade, diversity in the workplace has become a major topic of research in the organizational sciences, with numerous books and articles highlighting the benefits of a workforce that is diverse in terms of race, gender, disability status, age, and sexual orientation. By detecting when discrimination will be displayed or repressed, aversive racism supports social identity theory and the BIAS map. Discrimination can take many forms, including cultural, societal, institutional, and individual discrimination. Attitudes, prejudice, and stereotypes are three key concepts for understanding individual processes that result in discrimination. The BIAS and social identity theory are complemented by aversive racism. Three crucial concepts for understanding individual processes that result in discrimination are attitudes, bias, and stereotypes. The social identity perspective (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) posits that members of a group are motivated to protect their self-esteem and acquire a positive and differentiated social identity. Individual cognitive and affective processes can result in workplace discrimination in a variety of ways.