Women in a Male-Dominated Industry: Factor Analysis of a Women Workplace Culture Questionnaire Based on a Grounded Theory Model

A Women Workplace Culture Questionnaire (WWQ) was developed based on results from a grounded theory study. Respondents were asked: (1) to compare women's general status at work with that of men and (2) to describe their specific experiences in this regard. Answers from 104 White women working in a male-dominated industry were intercorrelated and subjected to principal component analyses, as well as a to varimax rotation. A five-factor solution that explained 56.5% of the total variance was supported by a graphic scree-test. Three factors with coefficient alpha >.70 were identified that concerned areas of perceived burdens on me (the individual woman), perceived burdens on women, and sexual harassment. A fourth factor, social support, also showed modest reliability. Factors I, II, and IV correlated significantly with ill health, distress, and job satisfaction.     

Interpersonal Mistreatment of Women in the Workplace

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the work included in the special issue: Interpersonal Mistreatment of Women in the Workplace. In doing so, the authors develop a multilevel conceptual model, illustrating how the research included in the special issue address causes and consequences of interpersonal mistreatment at the micro, meso, and macro-level of analysis. In addition, the integrated model demonstrates how factors at different levels both influence and are influenced by those at other levels of analysis. Based on this collective work, the authors encourage researchers interested in addressing the mistreatment and marginalization of less powerful groups to consider the multilevel causes and consequences of such behavior. It is only through holistic examinations that researchers can we fully understand this insidious problem and encourage people—whether likely targets of mistreatment or not—to take a stand to end this treatment in workplaces and other society as a whole.     

Applications of Personality Assessment to the Workplace: A Review

Our review of the relevant research literature in the recent past strongly supports the view that personality assessment has high utility in the workplace. We review the evidence that personality assessment measures, especially those based upon the Big Five factors of personality, can effectively predict job performance and thus can be used for personnel selection. The validity of integrity testing in predicting counterproductivity on the job has been demonstrated both for overt measures of integrity and, to a lesser degree, for more general (subtle) measures of personality. We also found good evidence of validity for measures of (supervisory) management and (transformational) leadership, a complex field which includes a number of multidimensional instruments each built around its own theory. Finally, we review the empirical literature that supports the use of assessment centers and the use of personality assessment in training and development.     

Co-Rumination in the Workplace: Adjustment Trade-offs for Men and Women Who Engage in Excessive Discussions of Workplace Problems

Purpose  

Developmental psychology research finds that when children and adolescents engage in excessive discussion of problems with friends, a phenomenon termed “co-rumination,” they experience trade-offs between negative adjustment outcomes (e.g., depression), but better friendship quality. This study examines the possibility that adults in the workplace engage in co-rumination about workplace problems, and that co-rumination, gender, and the presence of abusive supervision influence both positive and negative individual outcomes.     

A Psychodynamic Perspective on the Negotiation of Prejudice Among Immigrant Women

The negotiation of prejudice among immigrant women has largely been unaddressed in the psychotherapy literature. In an increasingly pluralistic society, such as the United States, it is especially important to address needs of specific subgroups of women who experience racial and ethnic prejudice. Immigrant women are in a unique position to simultaneously encounter prejudice related to multiple aspects of social identity, such as gender, race, and ethnicity, contributing to feelings of marginalization. This article addresses the role of attachment related conflicts in immigrant women's negotiation of racial and ethnic stereotyping and discrimination, from a psychodynamic perspective. Implications of these conflicts for women's identity development are discussed. A clinical case vignette illustrates the complexity of addressing attachment and prejudice within and outside the therapeutic relationship.     

Dimensions of Support Among Abused Women in the Workplace

The authors draw on social support theory to examine supervisor support match (support wanted and received), support mismatch (support not wanted and received) and work outcomes for abused low‐wage working women, and to determine if supervisor support match and mismatch are more strongly associated with work outcomes than global supervisor support Face‐to‐face interviews were conducted with a community sample of abused, employed women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past year (N = 163). Using hierarchical regression, we found, after accounting for global supervisor support; a higher level of supervisor support match was associated with greater job satisfaction, fewer job reprimands and less job termination. Findings from the study inform theories of social support and have practical implications for workplace interventions for IPV.     

Theory Versus Reality: Evaluation of g in the Workplace

Although it is recognized that g is important for success in the workplace, it is suggested that further research is necessary to understand the nature of g and to determine how prediction of job performance may be enhanced. Major relevant theories of intelligence are discussed and criticized. Questions about the roles of measures of knowledge, interests, and personality in providing incremental validity to that afforded by g are discussed. Difficulties in criterion definition and measurement are assessed. Additions to utility analysis are recommended. New findings relevant to group differences are discussed. The future of the prediction of workplace performance is discussed, and recommendations regarding the roles of both theoretical concepts and practical innovations are made.     

Gender Discrimination and the Workplace: An Examination of Rational Bias Theory

Previous research concerning the rationalbias theory of workplace discrimination has beenconfined largely to narrow student samples. This studyextends that work with an experimental-survey design in which employed participants were asked bothhow others respond to conditions classically elicitingrational bias discrimination, and how they believepeople behave in their own firms. Participants were 148 men and 158 women (88.6% Caucasian, 4.6%Hispanic, 4% Asian, and 2.8% other racialidentification) with graduate business degrees from apublic university. Results show evidence of continuingdiscrimination, and support the theory predicting rational biasgender discrimination in the workplace. Gender ofrespondent and locus of control (defined by Spector'sWork Locus of Control scale) are also shown to be related to rational bias discrimination.Suggestions are made for further development and testingof rational bias theory.     

Prevention of Mental Health Problems for Women in the Workplace

No abstract available for this article.     

On Coffee Talk and Break-Room Chatter: Perceptions of Women Who Gossip in the Workplace

ABSTRACT

The present study examined perceptions of female gossipers in the workplace. Male and female participants (N = 129) were asked to think of a woman who either frequently or rarely contributed negative information about other people during conversation. Participants then completed ratings on the target using the six dimensions of the FIRO-B. As predicted, high gossipers were perceived as having a greater need to exert control of others, but less need for others to control them, than low gossipers. Higher gossipers were also perceived as less emotionally warm than low gossipers. The implications of these findings for gossip research are presented.     

Defenses, Personality Structure, and Development: Integrating Psychodynamic Theory Into a Typological Approach to Personality

Psychodynamic theory does not conceptualize motivated unconscious defenses primarily in terms of individual traits. Rather, a person's mechanisms of defense are understood in terms of his or her personality structure and level of psychological development. This paper outlines the way in which this perspective has been integrated into a configural approach to personality assessment. The six-group typology based on the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI) identifies higher-order personality organization through the intersection of self-reported high/low distress and high/moderate/low self-restraint. The framework incorporates a developmental perspective by assessing affect regulation in conjunction with the internalization of self-regulatory controls. The primary defenses of prototypic members of each of the six groups are highlighted, and hypothesized links to personality traits, stages of ego development, attachment styles, and proneness to specific personality disorders are discussed.     

A Cross-Cultural Exploration: Body Image in Older Black and White Women in the Workplace

This study investigated body image attitudes in a non-clinical sample of black and white older professional women in the workplace in South Africa. Participants were 125 professional women (white woman n=76 and black women n = 49). They completed the shortened version of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) (Cooper, Taylor, Cooper & Fairburn, 1987). The BSQ is a self-report instrument that measures weight and shape concerns. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests for independent samples were used to determine the univariate relationships between variables. Following this, a two-way analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to explore the interaction between ethnicity and BMI. The results indicate that Body Mass Index (BMI) and ethnicity are significantly and independently related to the body shape image. Women with higher BMI scores tended to have more concern about their bodies. Black women with higher BMI scores had more concerns than their white colleagues.     

Saying It Like It Isn't: Mixed Messages From Men and Women in the Workplace1

Participants in a simulated work environment were exposed to 1 of 4 feedback conditions that varied in verbal and nonverbal positivity (positive content/positive tone, positive content/negative tone, negative content/positive tone, or negative content/negative tone). Either a male or a female supervisor provided this feedback. Results indicate that both productivity and general work satisfaction varied by feedback condition and gender. For example, female subordinates reported higher rates of satisfaction to positive content/negative tone messages and male subordinates reported higher rates of satisfaction to negative content/positive tone messages. Additionally, the productivity of male subordinates with male supervisors appeared to be distinctly influenced by positive tone relative to all other dyadic compositions. These results demonstrate the importance of examining both verbal and nonverbal components of feedback messages, along with the gender of the supervisor and subordinate.     

A Model of Racialized Sexual Harassment of Women in the UK Workplace

This paper examines Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women’s experiences of sexual harassment in the UK workplace from the perspective of frequency and types of sexual harassment and characteristics of the harasser; ethnic and cultural influences; power, fear of reprisals, and reporting behavior. Using a snowballing technique, in depth interviews with 17 BAME women who had experienced or witnessed BAME sexual harassment reported that they were frequently sexually harassed by men from the same ethnic background. The fear of job loss, reprisals from male family members and negative organizational consequences resulted in over three quarters of the women not reporting incidents. Key questions regarding the factors and influences that are inherent in racialized sexual harassment are integrated into a model.     

Improving Managerial Effectiveness in the Workplace: The Case of Sexual Harassment of Navy Women1

A decision-making model is used to test causal relationships between a set of constructs thought to be important in understanding the organizational effects of sexual harassment. The model explores the causal linkages between women Navy personnel perceptions of the organization's climate regarding sexual harassment, experiences, and judgments of inappropriate sexual behaviors, and resulting decisions ultimately affecting the organization. The findings advance our understanding of important causal variables in preventing sexual harassment, along with providing managers an early warning or screening device to aid in moderating this contemporary workplace issue.