HUMAN RELATIONS IN A WORLD OF DIVERSITY

McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2010 Modified by Jackie Kroening 2011

HUMAN RELATIONS IN A WORLD OF

DIVERSITY

Chapter 16

Parts taken from Human Relations 4ed Modified by Jackie Kroening 2011

A Diverse Society The composition of a workforce will continue to

change and diversify. People with disabilities and diverse religions are more

visible. People need to look at the prejudices they learned

while growing up. People should know about different cultural biases,

customs, and expectations of the diverse groups they will likely work with.

Companies now have diversity training programs, workshops, and other resources.


Prejudiced Attitudes Prejudice is one type of attitude. All attitudes have three parts:

what one: Thinks Feels does.


Prejudiced Attitudes Stereotypes

One’s thoughts or beliefs about specific groups of people.

May be positive, negative, or neutral. Usually oversimplified, exaggerated, and/or

over generalized. Potentially damaging as it lumps people

into one group without recognizing individual characteristics.

People also stereotype tasks and jobs.


Prejudiced Attitudes

Prejudice How one feels as a result of the

stereotypes one believes in. Undermines human relations; hard on

productivity. Disruptive and causes low morale. Causes bias. Can be negative or positive.


Prejudiced Attitudes Discrimination

One’s behavior or what one does (or intends to do, or is inclined to do) as a result of stereotypes and prejudice.

Results in institutional prejudice. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to

discriminate against race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

* Employer includes governments and other public institutions, schools and colleges, unions, and employment agencies

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established to monitor laws.


Origins of Prejudice

Social causes of prejudice People form prejudices to raise their self-esteem. It helps people define themselves and feel

accepted. Conforming to a group’s standards also helps

people feel accepted. Many groups encourage us-versus-them feelings

and behaviors. * Institutional support systems unintentionally

create institutional racism, sexism, or exclusionary policies.



* Cognitive causes of prejudice Cognitive categorization is a process in

which the mind quickly sorts information into categories to function efficiently.

This process allows one to categorize people quickly; this can lead to prejudice.



Emotional causes of prejudice – Ethnocentrism A belief that one’s ethnic group is more

normal than others. People’s gut level feelings about how right

their group is and how wrong they think other groups are.

* Scapegoating refers to the practice of unfairly blaming others when things go wrong

Not intentional. Most societies are ethnocentric.




Types of Discrimination

Racism Is prejudice and discrimination based on

race. Racial prejudice is difficult to overcome, the

two factors to the problem being ethnocentrism and prejudice.

Discrimination because of racism at workplace reduces productivity and does not capture the employee’ skill and talent.



Economic prejudice Prejudice and discrimination towards

people who are poorer/wealthier than one is.

One theory of prejudice is competition leads to frustration and aggression.

During economic crunches, prejudice often focuses on ethnic groups, even if they are Americans.



Sexism Prejudice and discrimination based on gender. The feminist movement has made great

progress in obtaining equal rights for women. Though discrimination against women still

continues at workplace, there have been changes in areas such as promotion, salary hike, flexiwork, and manageable work loads.



Overweight people Due to emphasis on dieting and fitness,

overweight people have become targets of prejudice.

Court cases have ruled against this prejudice at least where hiring and firing are the issues.

Common belief that overweight people are to blame for most high healthcare costs.



Homosexuals * If homosexuality is a chosen lifestyle, it

should not be a protected category. if homosexuality is biologically or

genetically caused, it should be a protected category.

Policies and laws are being created to forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or sexual preference.



The elderly Until 1967, no law protected older people

from discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act

(ADEA) protects employees and job applicants from being discriminated because of their age.

Studies show that ageism is still prevalent. Currently, employees who are aged 40 and

older are covered under ADEA.


Types of Discrimination People with disabilities

Prejudiced attitudes that are based on largely inaccurate information hinder hiring.

Disabled employees were protected by law from discrimination, originally under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

* In July 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was introduced to allow people with disabilities to enjoy most of the benefits that everyone else enjoys.



Religious groups The EEOC reports a steady increase in complaints

based on religion. Members of religious groups often find themselves

the objects of discrimination at work and in social circles.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination against members of any religion.

Employers are required to accommodate employees who express a need to practice religious beliefs at work.



Pregnant women Questions that probe whether a woman

is planning pregnancy or is pregnant are illegal because they affect hiring decisions and hurt women’s chances for employment and advancement.

Even today, a visibly pregnant woman runs risks of discrimination.


Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

This needs to be examined and resolved as women and men have started working together more often.


Sexual Harassment

Approaches to stopping sexual harassment: * Just asking or telling the person to stop. Telling fellow employees about the problem

or threatening to do so is the second best. * The worst response is no response;

ignoring the problem hardly ever works.


Sexual Harassment

If in doubt as to whether particular words/ actions is sexual harassment, one can use his/her own reaction as a guide.

It can be prevented by people who know what it is, know the laws forbidding it, and know what to do when it happens.


Prejudice, Discrimination, and Self-esteem

* General observation about extremely prejudiced people is that they may suffer from low self-esteem.

As a person’s self-esteem improves, prejudices may eventually disappear.

Unless one has a firmly grounded, high self-esteem level, discrimination can lower one’s self-esteem temporarily or permanently.


Prejudice, Discrimination, and Self-esteem

Effects of being victimized by discrimination: Blaming oneself. Blaming external causes.

* A danger of discrimination is its tendency to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.


Looking Ahead

Prejudging others seems to be inevitable.

Some negative feelings/behaviors can be eliminated.

A key ingredient for people to understand and appreciate members of other groups is contact (proximity).


Looking Ahead

The second ingredient is ensuring equal status for everyone.

The third is cooperation instead of competition between members of groups.

* When members of different groups cooperate and depend on each other to reach common goals (interdependence), conflict is greatly reduced.


Strategies for Success

Reducing sexual harassment:1. Write a policy statement.2. Post the policy statement in a public

place.3. Talk about the policy.* Conducting a poll on policy consensus will

not reduce harassment.

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HUMAN RELATIONS IN A WORLD OF DIVERSITY