The devil without and within: A conceptual model of social cognitive processes whereby discrimination leads stigmatized minorities to become discouraged workers

Abstract

In contrast to the substantial literatures on job loss, underemployment, and re-employment, management scholars have paid scant attention to "discouraged workers," defined as those who want to work but have ceased looking for work because of labor market-related reasons such as discrimination. Drawing together the labor economics category of discouraged workers, the diversity literature on employment discrimination, and social cognitive research on careers, we model social cognitive mechanisms whereby discrimination can lead stigmatized minorities to become discouraged workers. We show how direct effects of discrimination (the "devil without") can be compounded by its indirect impacts-through minority socialization and identity, struggling role models, learned helplessness, and low job search self-efficacy (collectively, the "devil within")-to lead stigmatized minorities to become discouraged workers. Our model of insidious intra-and inter-personal dynamics that can amplify and sustain the demoralization and exclusion that stems from discrimination has implications for researchers, organizations, and those concerned with helping discouraged workers.

Work Design Influences: A Synthesis of Multilevel Factors that Affect the Design of Jobs

“…One explanation for these effects is that factors such as gender and race trigger discrimination within internal and external labor markets, which restricts these employees' access to secure jobs with better work designs (Heslin, Bell, & Fletcher, 2012;LaMontagne, Krnjacki, Kavanagh & Bentley, 2013). Discrimination by formal decision-makers then can continue once an individual is within a job.…”

“…Such biased task allocations can, in turn, affect perceptions of employees' competence, further perpetuating inequality in work design (Clegg & Spencer, 2007;Humphrey & Berthiaume, 1993). Stigmatization and marginalization can also lead disadvantaged groups to identify with their stigmatized identity, which interferes with personal resources such as self-efficacy (Heslin et al, 2012), which are crucial for negotiating i-deals to improve work design or craft one's job.…”

Development of a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Shared Decision making Among African-American LGBT Patients and their Clinicians

“…16,17 However, persistent structural inequities and social advantage/ disadvantage promote learned helplessness 78 and entitlement/ privilege 79 among populations in ways that encourage some patients to believe they have fewer options and lower selfefficacy, and encourage others to believe they have more options and higher self-efficacy, regardless of the external realities. Structural inequality affects not only the material realities (e.g., proportion of goods and services available) of a person's life, but also the internal beliefs and expectations that may obscure perceptions of those material realities.…”

Coping with Economic Stress: A Test of Deterioration and Stress-Suppressing Models

“…Studies have found individual and family variability in the response to economic stress (Donnellan, Conger, McAdams, & Neppl, 2009;Fonesca et al, 2016) and the reaction or appraisal of stressful situations differs across ethnic minority groups (Heslin, Bell, & Fletcher, 2012;Tandon et al, 2013). The impact of ethnic minority group membership expresses itself through (a) the differential risk of stress, (b) the variation in the appraisal of stress, and (c) the effect of stress-mediating variables (Aranda & Knight, 1997).…”