Extant research suggests subtle, interpersonal forms of discrimination, though often normalized and overlooked, may be just as detrimental to targets as compared to more traditional, overt forms of discrimination. To further examine this question, we meta-analyzed the current literature to estimate the relationship between discrimination and a host of psychological, physical health, and work-related correlates as a function of its form (subtle or overt). Analysis of 90 effect sizes suggested that subtle and overt forms of discrimination hold relationships of comparable magnitude with a host of adverse correlates. By demonstrating that these two forms of discrimination are not differentially related to relevant outcomes, our findings call into serious question the pervasive belief that subtle discrimination is less consequential for targets as compared to overt discrimination (Landy, 2008; McWhorter, 2008). Taken together, our results suggest that subtle discrimination is at least as important to consider and address as its overt counterpart. Implications for organizational scholars and practitioners are discussed.

Integrating sociological and psychological perspectives, this research considers the value of organizational ethnic diversity as a function of community diversity. Employee and patient surveys, census data, and performance indices relevant to 142 hospitals in the United Kingdom suggest that intraorganizational ethnic diversity is associated with reduced civility toward patients. However, the degree to which organizational demography was representative of the community demography was positively related to civility experienced by patients and ultimately enhanced organizational performance. These findings underscore the understudied effects of community context, and imply that intergroup biases manifested in incivility toward outgroup members hinder organizational performance. Why Organizational and Community 3 WHY ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMMUNITIY DIVERSITY MATTER: REPRESENTATIVENESS AND THE EMERGENCE OF INCIVILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCESocial, political, and technological advancements have given rise to a workforce comprised of people from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds across the globe (United Nations Statistics Division, 2009). Management research on the implications of this increasing ethnic diversity has yielded mixed findings; some research within teams and dyads suggests diversity can generate innovation and breadth of information (e.g., Simmons, Pelled, & Smith, 1999), while other studies suggest diversity can have negative effects by increasing conflict and reducing cohesion (e.g., Jehn, Northcraft & Neale, 1999). The little evidence that exists at the level of the organization suggests that diversity can have positive effects on financial outcomes under some conditions (Herring, 2009;Richard, 2000;Richard, Barnett, Dwyer, & Chadwick, 2004). Researchers have therefore moved past the question of whether diversity affects outcomes and have instead begun to address the question of when and how diversity can facilitate positive outcomes (Joshi & Roh, 2009).An answer to these questions may be gleaned from one of the potential value propositions espoused by researchers and practitioners of diversity management: diverse employees may be particularly effective in serving similarly diverse populations (Richard, 2000) by bringing unique cultural sensitivity that appeals to a diverse customer base (Cox & Blake, 1991). This reasoning can be grounded in social identity and social categorization theories, which suggest that people unconsciously favor members of their own social groups (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). On its face, this rationale implies that organizational diversity will yield positive effects when it matches the demography of customers or clients the organization serves. Why Organizational and Community 4Here we suggest that the primary reason why people from one ethnic background may be less effective in serving people from other ethnic backgrounds is that the positive regard automatically afforded to ingroup members is replaced by a subtle disregard when intraorganizational diver...

Purpose – Previous research demonstrates the damaging effects of hostile sexism enacted towards women in the workplace. However, there is less research on the consequences of benevolent sexism: a subjectively positive form of discrimination. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from ambivalent sexism theory, the authors first utilized an experimental methodology in which benevolent and hostile sexism were interpersonally enacted toward both male and female participants. Findings – Results suggested that benevolent sexism negatively impacted participants' self-efficacy in mixed-sex interactions. Extending these findings, the results of a second field study clarify self-efficacy as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between benevolent sexism and workplace performance. Originality/value – Finally, benevolent sexism contributed incremental prediction of performance above and beyond incivility, further illustrating the detrimental consequences of benevolently sexist attitudes towards women in the workplace.

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