Title: The Martha Stewart Syndrome: Discrimination Education
1The Martha Stewart Syndrome Discrimination
Education
- Marla Harvey
- Mentor Travis Langley, Ph.D.
- Henderson State University
2The Nature of Prejudice Gordon
Allport, 1954
- Civilized men have gained notable mastery
over energy, matter, and inanimate nature
generally, and are rapidly learning to control
physical suffering and premature death. But, by
contrast, we appear to be living in the Stone Age
as so far as our handling of human relationships
is concerned. - p. xiii
3Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Originally conceived to protect the rights of
black men, the bill was amended prior to passage
to protect the civil rights of all men and women.
- The Act transformed American society. It
prohibited discrimination in public - facilities, in government, and in
- employment.
- Over next four decades, its amendments and
provisions strengthened resolve to eliminate
prejudice and discrimination.
4Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Illegal for employers to discriminate based on
race, color, gender, religion, or national
origin. -
- No other legislation has had a greater effect on
the workplace. - Societies are very slow to change, and
- individual perspectives are even more time
consuming and difficult.
5Individuals Majoring in Business
- Human Resource Departments must adhere to
government policy and procedure regulations. - Required educational material focuses on the laws
and specifically the interpretation of case law. - Industrial/Organizational and Social Psychology
can be usefully integrated into the legal
parameters.
6Personnel Selection
- Recruiters and human resource managers claim to
make decisions based solely on qualifications. - Research indicates otherwise
- Mack Rainey (1990)
- Shannon Stark (2003)
- Dipboye, Fromkin, Wiback (1975)
7Current Research Hypothesis
- An individuals prejudice toward a particular
group can be more effectively reduced through a
psychology-oriented educational lecture, as
opposed to a business-oriented lecture. - Second, that unconsciously exposing students to
the foundation of their beliefs will cause them
to become less biased. - For the purpose of this research, attitudes
toward powerful female executives are examined.
8Participants
- Ninety-two upper level (junior senior)
undergraduate students majoring in business at
Henderson State University currently enrolled in
Human Resource, Management, or Business Law
courses.
9Materials
- Index of Attitudes Toward Powerful Female
Executives - part A (IA part A) - Business Lecture (Video)
- Psychology Lecture (Video)
- Stereotype Formation (SF) Questionnaire
- IA part B
10Design
- 2x2 mixed factorial design
- (Business Lecture/Psychology Lecture x IA-B
first/SF first) -
- Independent Variable Index of Attitudes (IA
prejudice inventory)
11Procedure
- Voluntary Consent Form
- IA part A
- Either BL or PL (both videotaped)
- IA part B/SF or SF/IA part B
- Unanticipated Confound Instructor Present/Not
Present
12Results
Psychology Lecture
Business Lecture
- Hypothesis not supported, opposite occurred.
- Participants who heard the business lecture
demonstrated less bias toward the female
executive than did those who heard the psychology
lecture (F(1,86)3.362, p.070).
13Results
A Lecture Type X Order X Trials interaction was
significant. (F(1,86)8.435, p.005)
Groups responses differed before they heard
their respective lectures. This should not occur
unless conditions have been confounded.
SF First
SF First
IA-B First
IA-B First
Pre-lecture
Post-lecture
14Confounding
- Unanticipated confound arose
- Instructor Present
- Instructor Absent
Pre-lecture
Post-lecture
Instructor Presence X Trials interaction
(F(1,88)8.356, p.005). Groups differed before
lecture but not after.
15IA Subscales
- Components of an attitude (description, behavior,
feelings) - Consistent with past findings (Ehrlich, 1973
Dunton Fazio, 1997)
Description
Behavior
Feelings
16Discussion
- Type of learning passive vs. active.
- Business lecture was recall material.
- Longitudinal study appropriate.
- More emphasis on attitude formation.
17Politically Correct
- Individuals often think and feel one way, yet act
another. - People often recognize that expressing a
prejudice idea about a particular group is
unacceptable in modern society and there may
social or even legal ramifications.
18Legal Motivation to Conform
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
created through the societal institution of
government, and sociological reasons often create
the human motivation to conform. But laws are
only the beginning educating those most effected
must be examined.
19Allport said it best
- It required years of labor and billions of
dollars to gain the secret of the atom. It will
take a still greater investment to gain the
secrets of mans irrational nature. It is
easier, someone has said, to smash an atom than a
prejudice. - The Nature of Prejudice (1954)