Date of Award

5-1-2021

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Program

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Content Description

1 online resource (iv, 107 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Jason G Randall

Committee Members

Dev K Dalal, Ho Kwan Cheung

Keywords

Arab, Diversity Training, Employment Interview, Interview Ratings, Training, Arab Americans, Arabs, Discrimination in employment, Diversity in the workplace, Employment interviewing, Attitude change, Employees

Subject Categories

Psychology

Abstract

In the last 10 years, the EEOC saw a 200% increase in the number of ethnic based discrimination charges involving individuals who were perceived to be of an Arab background (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2017). However, little empirical work has been done to detect and amend this trend. To answer this gap, this investigation examined the expression of modern bias through the lens of the justification-suppression model (Crandall & Eshleman, 2003) in order to detect and explain possible discrimination Arabs may experience during employment interviews. This was done in two studies using participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Study 1 had a final sample of 319 participants, while Study 2 had a final sample of 418 participants. Both studies utilized the same materials for pre-recorded interviews of a male answering questions at low, moderate, or high levels of interview performance/competence—a variable that was manipulated between-subjects. Ratings of interview performance were aggregated and evaluated for potential differences between the White and Arab conditions, although no significant effect was present. Study two empirically tested the impact of the two diversity trainings on justified and suppressed bias. In Study two, participants first completed an online diversity training (goal setting, perspective taking, or control – internet safety). Next, they had two weeks to practice and display the behaviors they learned in their training sessions. Although, no significant hypotheses were supported in regards to the effects of diversity training across interview performance conditions, results directionally suggest that a goal setting methodology may be more efficacious in reducing bias than a perspective taking methodology. Implications of these findings are discussed relative to assisting organizations in reducing ethnic bias in employment interview settings.

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