People tend to view others who are of the same social group as being more similar tan they truly are, and tend to judge others from different social groups as more different than they truly are. This behavior of seeing members of social groups as similar to each other is mostly resilient for members of out-groups, which brings about out-group homogeneity ( Rubin, 2007 ). Out-group homogeneity refers to the propensity to consider supporters of out-groups as more alike to each other than one considers the associates of in-groups. In other words, individuals see out-groups to be more homogeneous than the in-group. For instance, white people often used fewer sets of characteristics to describe black people than their white counterparts. This paper evaluates out-group homogeneity and discusses its negative impacts on individuals' job opportunities and advancement in an organization.
Out-group homogeneity takes place particularly because people rarely have as much contact with members of other social groups as they do with members of their own groups. Additionally, the nature of interaction with out-group members is mostly shallow. This hinders people from actually understanding out-group members as individuals who are distinct from the rest of the group ( Rubin, 2007 ). Consequently, people tend to be ignorant of the differences among members of a social group. Also, out-group members are habitually categorized, making them seem more cognitively alike. The moment one begins to view the members of out-groups as being more alike than they actually are, it is possible to employ their stereotypes to members of the groups with no or little consideration that such characteristics may not be true of each member of the out-group. The result is that the stereotypes become associated with the entire group in a set of perceptual depictions.
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The impact of Out-Group Homogeneity on Hiring and Promotion
The most evident negative outcome of out-group homogeneity in the context of the workplace is discrimination. If the individuals in charge of hiring or promotion in an organization belong to a certain social group, there is a likelihood that they would discriminate, especially concerning gender and race. The stereotypes associated with a certain gender or race tend to be either beneficial or detrimental to someone looking to be employed or promoted ( Rubin and Badea, 2007 ). Women and African-Americans have been the most affected by out-group homogeneity. Some of the stereotypes associated with women include “women not being breadwinners,” “there is a man’s job and a woman is not able do it,” “women are expected to act as ladies,” and “ladies cannot be devoted to the profession since they are occupied with being caregivers.” Blacks are often categorized as hostile, aggressive, difficult, angry, and intellectually inferior.
One of the most suitable examples of the negative impact of out-group homogeneity is that of Wal-Mart being sued by some of its female employees for lack parity in pay and promotion between men and women working for the retailer. In this case, the plaintiffs claimed that store managers throughout the country responded to these pay complaints by stating that “men are working as the heads of their families, while women are working for the safe of it” and to “only top up what the man has earned.” Such behavior contradicts the United States Civil Rights Act, which would require the retailer to pay men and women of the same rank equally ( Rubin, 2007 ). In the same company, women comprised more than three-quarters of the sales associates in the ladies’ sportswear, hosiery, jewelry, beauty aids, domestic goods, and infant-toddler departments. In the security, produce, maintenance, meat, hardware, and sporting goods departments, women made up only one-quarter of the sales associates. The retailer was sending a clear message that there are opportunities that are more suitable to men and some that are more suitable to women, which inaccurate and ill-advised. As a result, a woman who would desire a job in the hardware department at Wal-Mart was likely to miss out on the opportunity.
Reference
Rubin, M., & Badea, C. (2007). Why do people perceive in-group homogeneity on in-group traits and out-group homogeneity on out-group traits? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 33 (1), 31-42.
