Pink triangles: Antecedents and consequences of perceived workplace discrimination against gay and lesbian employees.

A model of perceived sexual orientation discrimination was tested in a national sample of 534 gay and lesbian employees. The effects of legislation, organizational policies and practices, and work group composition on perceived sexual orientation discrimination were examined, as well as the attitudinal and organizational outcomes associated with discrimination. Gay employees were more likely to report discrimination when employed in groups that were primarily heterosexual and in organizations that lacked supportive policies and were not covered by protective legislation. Disclosure of sexual orientation at work was related to discrimination and antecedent variables. Perceived discrimination was associated with negative work attitudes and fewer promotions. Organizational policies and practices had the strongest impact on perceived discrimination and were directly related to outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of discrimination and ethnocultural variables in a diverse group of adolescents

Despite current interest in the multi-dimensionality of culture and ethnicity there are few studies that have explored the role of discrimination with ethnocultural variables. In this study social identity theory was used as a framework to test the relation between discrimination and components of ethnic identity, and attitudes towards out-groups. A school-based survey in a large south-west metropolitan area in 1994 was undertaken with students (n=3071) of African-American, European-American, Mexican-American, and Vietnamese-American descent using multiple measures of ethnicity. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that two components of ethnic identity played different roles in the relation between discrimination and attitudes towards others. Consistent with social identity theory, results indicated that perception of more discrimination was predicted by high ethnic exploration, and having more negative attitudes towards out-groups. However, ethnic affirmation, which is a positive sense of belonging to one's ethnic group, was only indirectly related to discrimination through attitudes toward others. In fact, contrary to social identity theory, a stronger sense of belonging to one's group was associated with more positive attitudes toward out-groups. Results have important implications for race relations.     

The disclosure dilemma for gay men and lesbians: "Coming out" at work.

This study examined disclosing sexual orientation at work for 220 gay men and 159 lesbians. Self-acceptance, the centrality of one's identity, how "out" one is to friends and family, employer policies, and perceived employer gay-supportiveness were associated with disclosure behaviors at work for gay/lesbian employees. Disclosing at work and working for an organization perceived to be more gay supportive was related to higher job satisfaction and lower job anxiety. Reactions of coworkers to gay or lesbian workers mediated the relationship between disclosure and gay/lesbian workers' job attitudes. Implications and solutions for management are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of LGBT policies on ethnic/racial and gender diversity among business school faculty.

This study examines how policies targeted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community impact gender and ethnic/racial diversity within business schools. Specifically, the authors examine domestic-partner benefits, sexual orientation nondiscrimination policies, and gender identity nondiscrimination policies. The cumulative effect of offering multiple policies is also examined. Findings suggest that ethnic/racial diversity of tenure-track business faculty is significantly related to the school offering each of the examined LGBT policies; however, gender diversity was not significantly related. The offering of multiple policies is also a significant predictor of ethnic/racial diversity in business school faculties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of gender diversity management on perceptions of organizational attractiveness: The role of individual differences in attitudes and beliefs.

In this study, the authors examined how individual gender-related attitudes and beliefs affect the reactions of men and women to gender diversity management programs in organizations. They found that whereas there were no significant between-sex differences in the effects of gender diversity management on organizational attractiveness, there were strong within-sex differences based on individual attitudes and beliefs. Specifically, within the sexes, centrality of one's gender identity, attitudes toward affirmative action for women, and the belief that women are discriminated against in the workplace moderated the effects of gender diversity management on organizational attractiveness. The findings, combined with prior research, suggest that it is critical for organizations to incorporate efforts to manage perceptions of gender diversity management programs into their diversity management strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural exploration of factors affecting reactions to sexual harassment: Attitudes and policies.

The authors described a basic research program examining cross-cultural reactions to sexual harassment in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Factors explaining the results of this research and other cross-cultural studies are described and include gender differences, attitudes toward women, status differentials, country orientation (i.e., individualist vs. collectivist), climate of the country (i.e., attitudes condoning or opposing sexual harassment), and general attitudes toward punishment. The authors discussed current information about policies concerning sexual harassment in various countries and methodological and practical difficulties of conducting cross-cultural research on sexual harassment, with suggestions for future research. Finally, conclusions were drawn relating attitudes toward sexual harassment to the development of policies prohibiting sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ageism, psychology, and public policy.

Chronological age—either young or old—may be the basis for prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices, and institutional policies. The importance and role of ageism differs greatly between societies, such as the United States and Japan. Psychological research has documented a variety of examples of negative attitudes toward older people in the United States, but these results may reflect the methods used or may indicate a preference for age similarity rather than prejudice against the aged. Vulnerability to ageism in old age is associated demographically with being a woman, living alone, and having a poor health status. Discriminatory attitudes, mental health services, and employment policies are examples of the interface of ageism and psychology. Ageism may be reduced by emphasizing diversity among older people, paying attention to compensations for reduced abilities, and developing public policy based on need rather than on age. The importance of ageism as a psychological issue must be recognized and included in the public debate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making the invisible visible: Fear and disclosure of sexual orientation at work.

Stigma theory was used to examine the fears underlying the disclosure of a gay identity at work. Using a national sample of 534 gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees, this study examined the antecedents that affect the degree of disclosure of a gay identity at work and, for those who had not disclosed, the factors that influence their fears about full disclosure. Employees reported less fear and more disclosure when they worked in a group that was perceived as supportive and sharing their stigma. Perceptions of past experience with sexual orientation discrimination were related to increased fears but to greater disclosure. For those who had not fully disclosed their stigma, the fears associated with disclosure predicted job attitudes, psychological strain, work environment, and career outcomes. However, actual disclosure was unrelated to these variables. The utility of fear of disclosure for understanding processes underlying the disclosure of gay and other invisible stigmatized identities in the workplace is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Color-blind racial attitudes and white racial identity attitudes in psychology trainees.

Is it really important to talk about race in therapy? Does discussion of societal racism have any place in the consulting room? The American Psychological Association's (2003) recent multicultural guidelines highlight the limitations of a racially "color-blind" perspective for clinical practice. This study explored the relationships between color-blind racial attitudes and White racial identity. In a sample of 177 White counseling and clinical psychology trainees, we found that higher levels of attitudes that minimized or distorted the existence of contemporary racism (i.e., color-blind attitudes) were positively related to attitudes associated with less integrated forms of racial identity. Conversely, the results indicated that greater awareness of racism was related to more integrated White racial identity statuses. Implications for assessment, treatment, training, and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender matters, too: The influences of school racial discrimination and racial identity on academic engagement outcomes among African American adolescents.

The authors examined relationships among racial identity, school-based racial discrimination experiences, and academic engagement outcomes for adolescent boys and girls in Grades 8 and 11 (n = 204 boys and n = 206 girls). The authors found gender differences in peer and classroom discrimination and in the impact of earlier and later discrimination experiences on academic outcomes. Racial centrality related positively to school performance and school importance attitudes for boys. Also, centrality moderated the relationship between discrimination and academic outcomes in ways that differed across gender. For boys, higher racial centrality related to diminished risk for lower school importance attitudes and grades from experiencing classroom discrimination relative to boys lower in centrality, and girls with higher centrality were protected against the negative impact of peer discrimination on school importance and academic self-concept. However, among lower race-central girls, peer discrimination related positively to academic self-concept. Finally, socioeconomic background moderated the relationship of discrimination with academic outcomes differently for girls and boys. The authors discuss the need to consider interactions of individual- and contextual-level factors in better understanding African American youths' academic and social development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial identity, social context, and race-related social cognition in African Americans during middle childhood.

This study examined the effect of changes in racial identity, cross-race friendships, same-race friendships, and classroom racial composition on changes in race-related social cognition from 3rd to 5th grade for 73 African American children. The goal of the study was to determine the extent to which preadolescent racial identity and social context predict expectations of racial discrimination in cross-race social interactions (social expectations). Expectations of racial discrimination were assessed using vignettes of cross-race social situations involving an African American child in a social interaction with European Americans. There were 3 major findings. First, expectations for discrimination declined slightly from 3rd to 5th grade. Second, although racial composition of children's classrooms, number of European American friends, gender, and family poverty status were largely unrelated to social expectations, having more African American friends was associated with expecting more discrimination in cross-racial interactions from 3rd to 5th grade. Third, increases in racial centrality were related to increases in discrimination expectations, and increases in public regard were associated with decreases in discrimination expectations. These data suggest that as early as 3rd grade, children are forming attitudes about their racial group that have implications for their cross-race social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing multiple-minority identities: African American men who have sex with men at predominately white universities.

This study examined how African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) manage their multiple-minority identities, including being both racial and sexual minorities at predominately White educational institutions (PWI). Using a phenomenological paradigm, AAMSM college students participated in semistructured interviews. Results suggest that AAMSM at PWIs view race, gender, and religious beliefs as of primary importance, and sexual orientation and social class as less salient aspects of their identities. Further, AAMSM attending PWIs reported experiencing both discrimination and stereotyping based on their race and sexual orientation, and their appraised risk of rejection and acceptance influenced their perception of identity options. AAMSM’s construction of their identity influenced their interpersonal associations with the African American, gay, African American and gay, and campus communities at large. Implications for future research and higher education administrators and mental health professionals are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The strategic approach to contraceptive introduction

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual educators have faced many barriers in their professions, including harassment, discrimination, and even nationwide antigay political campaigns. Recently, lesbian, gay, and bisexual educators, particularly on college campuses, have challenged such stigmatization by coming out. Because previous research has demonstrated that interpersonal contact with lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals is related to less heterosexist attitudes, the current study investigated the impact of a gay instructor's coming out on his students' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Data were collected from 156 undergraduate students enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course, 40 of whom were taught by a gay instructor. Herek's (1984, 1994b) Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) scale was used to measure students' relative levels of heterosexism and was administered to students at the beginning and end of the semester. Midway through the semester, the gay instructor disclosed his gay identity to his students as part of a lesson about sexual orientation. Results from the postcourse survey indicated that students in the gay instructor's course section exhibited improved attitudes. Conversely, students enrolled in the same course in sections taught by heterosexual instructors demonstrated no change in their attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed, and it is argued that gay instructors' coming out may positively affect their students' attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. However, these efforts by individual instructors must only be a small part of more comprehensive institutional efforts by university communities to address homophobia and heterosexism in educational settings.     

The experience of disability: A challenge for psychology.

Presents data on the handicapped population in the US and demonstrates how social psychological theories explain the experience of disability. It is contended that disability is associated both with race and income and is more prevalent among those with less than an 8th-grade education than among those with a college education. A disability compounds the effects of sex and race on economic status. Stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes (including self-images of the disabled) limit the opportunities for disabled people. It is suggested that in addition to biological differences, the attitudes and behavior of the nonhandicapped toward the handicapped person, the values of appearance and independence that underlie these attitudes, and the power of prejudice and discrimination must be examined. It is concluded that the existence of disabilities compels people to confront what it means to be human. New directions for psychological research and service in light of the changing situation of handicapped people in today's society are proposed. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making sense of diversity in the workplace: Organizational justice and language abstraction in employees' accounts of diversity-related incidents.

To discern patterns of employee sense-making about workplace diversity, the authors analyzed 751 natural language accounts of diversity incidents from 712 workers in one department of a large organization. Six generic incident types emerged: discrimination, representation, treatment by management, work relationships, respect between groups, and diversity climates. Consistent with hypotheses, incidents that respondents viewed as negative, accounts from women, and those involving members of respondents' in-groups were more likely to cite justice issues. Partially consistent with research on the linguistic intergroup bias, both negative and positive accounts involving out-group members and accounts from men were more likely to be expressed using abstract verb forms. The authors discuss future opportunities to integrate research on diversity, justice, and the linguistic category model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Criteria for good adjustment to chronic hemodialysis: Nurse-patient differences.

Examined nurse–patient agreement on behaviors and attitudes associated with patient adjustment to chronic hemodialysis treatment. 164 hemodialysis nurses and 79 chronic hemodialysis outpatients completed a patient adjustment to dialysis inventory consisting of 43 behaviors and attitudes reported by nurses in earlier research to be important for adjustment to chronic hemodialysis. Results show that over 60% of nurses and patients showed sufficient agreement on the importance of 33 of 43 behaviors and attitudes for patient adjustment in the areas of compliance with the medical regimen, involvement in treatment, patient–staff interactions, and psychological and social functioning. Nurses and patients disagreed as to whether 9 behaviors and attitudes were at least important, while agreeing that only 1 item was irrelevant. Results also show that significantly more patients than nurses rated 25 out of 43 behaviors and attitudes as crucial. Approximately 50% of these related to interacting with staff, family, and friends. It is suggested that social and psychological criteria for adjustment to hemodialysis treatment should be defined by nurses and patients together. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tobacco, marijuana, and sensation seeking: Comparisons across gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual groups.

This study examined patterns of smoked substances (cigarettes and marijuana) among heterosexuals, gays, lesbians, and bisexuals based on data from the 2000 National Alcohol Survey, a population-based telephone survey of adults in the United States. We also examined the effect of bar patronage and sensation seeking/impulsivity (SSImp) on tobacco and marijuana use. Sexual orientation was defined as lesbian or gay self-identified, bisexual self-identified, heterosexual self-identified with same-sex partners in the past 5 years, and exclusively heterosexual (heterosexual self-identified, reporting no same-sex partners). Findings indicate that bisexual women and heterosexual women reporting same-sex partners had higher rates of cigarette smoking than exclusively heterosexual women. Bisexual women, lesbians, and heterosexual women with same-sex partners also used marijuana at significantly higher rates than exclusively heterosexual women. Marijuana use was significantly greater and tobacco use was elevated among gay men compared with heterosexual men. SSImp was associated with greater use of both of these substances across nearly all groups. Bar patronage and SSImp did not buffer the relationship between sexual identity and smoking either cigarettes or marijuana. These findings suggest that marijuana and tobacco use differ by sexual identity, particularly among women, and underscore the importance of developing prevention and treatment services that are appropriate for sexual minorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of Time in Prison and Security Level on Inmates' Sexual Attitude, Behavior, and Identity.

The aim of the present study was to develop an understanding of changes in inmates' sexual identity and the role these changes play in inmates' sexual attitudes and behaviors while incarcerated. Participants in this study consisted of 185 inmates from minimum and maximum security correctional facilities in a midwestern state. Results revealed that the higher the security level was and the longer inmates spent in a correctional facility, the greater was the probability that inmates would begin to endorse some preference for same-sex sexual behavior. This is in contrast to the finding that inmates less readily changed their sexual identity from heterosexual to homosexual regardless of the security level or the length of time spent in prison. Furthermore, inmates generally reported engaging in consensual same-sex sexual activities for reasons that are consistent with those of nonincarcerated persons (love and pleasure). Implications and future studies are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual functioning and intimacy in African American and white breast cancer survivors: a descriptive study

This study examines ethnic differences in sexual socialization and attitudes, sexual history and current practices, and the effects of treatment in 147 African American and White breast cancer survivors. Sex-related research in younger healthy populations has shown that cultural values associated with ethnicity influence sexual functioning, but small numbers of African American participants in previous research in breast cancer survivors has limited what we know about that population. In this study, there were few differences between the 2 ethnic groups in a predominantly well-educated, high-income, highly functional sample. However, African American women were significantly less likely to be comfortable with and to practice oral sex, self-touching, and masturbatory behaviors. White women were more likely to report that breast cancer had a negative impact on their sex lives. These differences in sexual repertoire and functioning should be noted by health care practitioners treating the sexual sequelae of breast cancer treatment.