RACE AS A FACTOR IN JOB PLACEMENT: SERENDIPITOUS FINDINGS OF "ETHNIC DRIFT"

In the course of analyzing data from a criterion-related test validation study, an unexpected pattern of initial job placement was noticed. There was a statistically significant tendency in this large commercial bank to assign new employees to supervisors of the same ethnic group; and among those who were subsequently reassigned within 5 months, the level of such identity-based homophily increased significantly further. Four alternative nonracial hypotheses that might have explained the pattern of reassignments were investigated and rejected. At present, no explanations are available of the processes underlying the pattern of intra-organizational "ethnic drift." Implications are noted for the study of cultural diversity and subgroup differences in organizations, and for the investigation of criterion relevance and test bias in validation studies.     

Cognition and Social Information-Gathering Strategies Reinterpretation Assessment in Second-Guessing

Effective social decision making often depends upon gathering needed information. Since the kind and quality of information obtained depends on the tactics used to gain it, the study of information-gathering tactics is of prime importance in understanding the processes of social decision making. We focused on one facet of information-gathering—the cognitive process of second-guessing developed by Hewes and Planalp (1982). We developed and tested a theory of reinterpretation assessment that explores the relationship between second-guessing and the use of social information-gathering tactics. Four of the five principles on which this theory is based are tested empirically. They concern the effects of motivational (need for accuracy), cognitive (processing load), and practical (social effort) antecedents on the tactics employed by social actors to improve subjectively the quality of their reinterpretations of messages. Moderate support is garnered for all four principles. Some challenging anomalies result in modifications of the theory.