The Influence of Ethnocentrism in Organizational Contexts ...

1 , ,February2005, ,nRoutledgeI~T., :PerceptionsofIntervieweeandManagerialAt tractiveness,Credibility, , ,& ,credibility, participants(N=117)watcheda video-tapedinterviewofa Koreannationalstudentbeinginterviewedfor a jobinthefinancialaidofficeofherUnitedSta tes(US) ,interpersonalattraction,credibility, ,competence,character, focusedontheinfluenceofethnocentrismonpe rceptionsofmanagerialattraction,credibil ity, (N=59)oftheparticipantswatcheda videoofanAsianstudentmanagerreprimanding a (N=64) ,interpersonalattraction,credibility,gen eralizedattitudesaboutthemanager, , ( ,UniversityofOklahoma,1985)is a ProfessorofCommunicationintheDepartmento fCommunication, ,DePere,WI,54115-2099, ( , ,2003)is a d2005 ]. ,social,andtaskattraction,competence,and generalattitudesaboutthemanager,butnotma nagerialeffectiven~ ,f!III!!!Keywords: Ethnocentrism ;Attracti veness;CredibilityInthepast50yearsa 'thesacialscienceliteraturenearlya centuryagO'bySumner(1906)whO'definedit as"thetechnicalnamefurthisviewafthingsin whichane'sawngroupis thecenterafeverything,andallathersaresca ledandratedwithreferenceto'it"( ).

2 Canceptually, ,theattitudesandbehaviarsafethnucentricp ersunsarebiasedinfavaraftheingraup,aften attheexpenseaftheautgraup(Hewstane&Ward, 1985;Islam&Hewstune,1993;Weber,1994).Att itudinally,ethnacentricpersunsseetheingr aupassuperiarto' ,ethnacentricpersunsfastercaaperativerel atianswithingroupmemberswhilecampetingwi th,andperhapsevenbattling, generallythaughtto'bea negativetrait,Sharma,Shimp,andShin(1995) arguethatethnacentrismfustersingraupsurv ival,salidarity,canfarmity,caaperatiun,l uyalty, ',Frenkel-Brunswik,Levinsan,andSanfard(1 950).Theirworkfacusedunnatianalism,fasci sm,anti-Semitism,andthe"antidemacratic" ( 1950)arguedthatnatianalismis a speciesafethnacentrism,thatethnacentrism is amanifestatianufautharitarianism,andthat autharitarianismisa persanalitydefect(Forbes,1985).InAdamO'e tal.(1950),Levinsanarguedthatethnacentri smis "basedana pervasiveandrigidingroup-autgroupdistinc tian;itinvalvesstereatyped,negativeimage ryandhastileattitudesregardingautgraups, stereatypedpusitiveimageryandsubmissivea ttitudesregardingingruups,anda hierarchical,authuritarianviewafgraupint eractianinwhichingruupsarerightlydaminan t,autgraupssubardinate"( ).

3 TheprincipalcantentianafAdamO'etal.(1950 ) ,anindividual'sprejudicetawardanyparticu larethnicarminaritygraupis symbalicufanentirecugnitivesystemufnegat iveattitudesabautvirtuallyanyautgraup( ,particularlyethnicand/arminaritygraups) .AdamO' ' 'theircanceptualarticulatianufethnocentr ism,AdamO'etal.(1950)alsO'investedcansid erabletimeandenergyintO'the'Cunstructian andvalidatianafanethnacentrismscale,alsO 'knawnastheE scalewasa seriesafLikert-likeCommunicationQuarterl y43itemspertainingtoJews,Negroes, "ToendprejudiceagainstJews,thefirststepi s forJewstotrysincerelytogetridoftheirharm fulandirritatingfaults:'"Negroeshavethei rrights,butit is besttokeepthemintheirowndistrictsandscho olsandtopreventtoomuchcontactwithwhites, "and"Filipinosareallrightintheirplace,bu ttheycarryittoofarwhentheydresslavishlya ndgoaroundwithwhitegirls"( ).Ironically,theEscaleishopelesslyoutdat edandcertainlycouldnotbeusedtodaytoasses sethnocentrisminBlack,Jewish, , ,TaylorandJaggi(1974) (1974), ,ifingroupmembersperformwellonsometask,t heattributionis thattheypossesstheessentialingredientsto accomplishsucha task( ,"they'resmart:'"they'rehardworkers:'etc .)

4 Yet,ifingroupmembersperformmarginallyons ometask,thefaultlieselsewhere( ,"trickquestions:'"badcallsbytheumpire," etc.).Onthecontrary,externalattributions aremadeforthepositivebehaviorofoutgroupm embers{ ,"theygotlucky")whileinternalattribution saremadefortheirnegativebehavior( ,"they'rebornliars").Inhisworkonethnocen trismandthreattosocialidentityGrant(1992 ,1993)andGrant&Brown(1995)arguethatthrea tstoone' threattotheirsocialidentity, (Neuliep&McCroskey,1997,2001;Neuliep,Cha udoir,&McCroskey,2001)haveoffereda personalitydefect,ethnocentrismshouldbev iewedalongacontinuum;thateveryoneis,toso meextent, ,Hofstede(1991)hasarguedthatethnocentris mistoa peoplewhategocentrismis ,humansareentirely,andnaturally, , ,ourbiologicaloradoptedfamilies, ,weobservethatourfamiliescoexistwithothe rfamilies,andthatthisculminationofpeople constitutessomeformofneighborhood,clan,t ribe,community,city,society, partofsomemuchlargerwhole,weareofficiall yenculturatedandethnocentric.}

5 ,( (1997)havearguedthatethnocentrismisessen tiallydescriptive; ,ethnocentrismmayservea veryvaluablefunctionwhenone'scentralgrou pis ' ,thetendencyforpeopletoseetheirownwayast heonlyrightwaycanbedangerousandleadtopat hologicalformsofethnocentrismthatresulti nprejudice,discrimination, ,wetendtoviewothercultures~andmicrocultu res) , ,InterculturalCommunication,andInterpers onalPerceptionNeuliep,Chaudoir,andMcCros key(2001) ,Gudykunst(1997)pointsoutthatone'scultur alorientationactsasa (2001) ,tothisextent,allinterculturalexchangesa renecessarily,toa greaterorlesserdegree, ,mostcross-culturalresearchersrecognizet hathumancommunicationis (1995)pointsoutthatethnocentrismleadsto" self-centereddialogue" (2001)contendthatethnocentrismactsasa perceptualfilterthataffectsnotonlytheper ceptionsofverbalandnonverbalmessages, (1996)haveargued,nomessageis ,McCroskeyandDunham(1966)observedthateve nwhentherealsourceofa messageisunknown,interactantswillcreatea ( ,Hovland,Janis,&Kelley,1953;McCroskey,19 66.)

6 McCroskey&McCain,1974;McCroskey&Young,19 81;O'Keefe,1990;Sillars&Scott,1983;Sunna frank,1991,1992).Thepurposeofthepresentr esearchis ,peopleinitiateandmaintaincommunicationw iththosetowhomtheyareattracted(McCroskey &McCain,1974).Manystudiesindicatethatper ceivedsimilarityis (Capella&Palmer,1990,1992;Sillars&Scott, 1983;Sunnafrank,1991,1992).InhisCommunic ationQuarterly45seminalwork,Byrne(1971)n otedthatattractionisa , ,ethnocentricsperceivethemselvesassuperi ortooutgroups{ ,ethnic/racialgroups).Hence,wheninteract ingwithpeoplefroma differentcultureorethnicity,highethnocen tricsarelikelytoperceiveoutgroupmembersa slessattractivethan; 'Keefe(1990)andothersmaintainthatcredibi lityis a receiver-basedconstruct;thatis,perceptio nsofamessagesourceheldbya (Hovland,Janis,&Kelley,1953;McCroskey,19 66;McCroskey& Young,1981;O'Keefe,1990)indicatesthatcre dibilityisa ,informed,qualified,trained,intelligent, etc.(McCroskey&Young,1981). , ,personsarebelievedtobecompetenttothedeg reethattheyareperceivedtobehonest,trustw orthy,just,fair,ethical,etc.}

7 (McCroskey& Young,1981).FollowingtheworkofGrant(1992 ,1993)andGrantandBrown(1995),ethnocentri csperceiveoutgroupsasthreateningthegoals oftheingroupthus, , :,includinginterpersonal,group, ,culturalandethnicdiversityintheUSAis a ,theresultsofthe2000'Censusprofiletherem arkableracialandethnicdiversitythathasbe ena (2003)reportsthatif thecurrentimmigrationtrendcontinues,by20 25whiteswillmakeup62%ofthepopulation,and by2050, ,AmericansofEuropeandescent,whowere90%of thepopulationin1960,willbea minorityoflessthan50%.Mirroringthegenera lpopulation, ,overthreemillionUSbusinessesareownedbym inorities,employingnearlyfivemillionwork ersandgeneratingnearlyUS$ , 'smarketplace,managingand-, },,1:representsa greatchallengeforthecorporateworld(Neuli ep,2003).AccordingtoDisanzaandLegge(2003 ) ,BakerandSpier(1990)arguethattheemployme ntinterviewistheprimarytoolforrecruiting ,hiring,andplacingnewemployeesinbusiness ,military, ,House(2001) (2001)maintainsthatinterviewersaremoreli kelytohirepeoplewithwhomtheyfeeltheyhave themostincommon( ,cultureand/orethnicity).

8 , ,theinitialhypothesesguidingthisstudyare :HI:Therewillbea significantandnegativecorrelationbetween ethnocentrismandperceptionsofoutgroupmem bers' :Therewillbea significantandnegativecorrelationbetween ethnocentrismandperceptionsofoutgroupmem bers' :Therewillbea , (Goldhaber,1993).Thepositionofaneffectiv emanagerisonethatfostersa , socialinfluence(Brehm,Kassin,&Fein,1999) .Asubstantialamountofresearchincommunica tionindicatesthatpeopletendtobeinfluence dbyandbelievethosewhomtheyviewascredible (Benoit,1987;Hovland,Janis,&Kelley,1953; Kouzes&Posner,1993;McCroskey& Young,1981;O'Keefe,1987).Totheextentthat managersareperceivedascredible, ,ethnocentrismmayinterferewithperception s;thatis, , (2001)andArveyandMurphy(1998), ,LandyandFarr(1980)andKraigerandFord(198 5) ,thesecondsetofhypothesesguidingthisstud yare:IIIIH4:Therewillbea significantandnegativecorrelationbetween ethnocentrismandperceptionsofoutgroupmem bers' :Therewillbea significantandnegativecorrelationbetween ethnocentrismandperceptionsofoutgroupmem bers' :Therewillbea :Therewillbea significantandnegativecorrelationbetween ethnocentrismandperceptionsofoutgroupmem bers' , , video-tapeofYoungshinKim(herrealname),a Koreannational,beinginterviewedbythedire ctoroffinancialaidfora ,participantswereaskedtocompleteNeuliepa ndMcCroskey's(1997)GeneralizedEthnocentr ism(GENE) 's(1974)measureofinterpersonalattraction thatincludesthreesubscalesofsocial,physi cal,andtaskattraction,McCroskeyandYoung' s(1981)measureofcredibilitythatincludesa (2002) , !

9 48]. ,ona sevenpointscale(where1 =Definitelydonothire,and7 =Definitelyhire), ,asdeterminedbyCronbach'salpha, ,physicalandtaskattractionsubscalesofthe interpersonalattractionscale, , ,and0 ,andforthecharactersubscale, 'sproduct-momentcorrelationswerecalculat edbetweenethnocentrismandthemeasuresofin terpersonalattraction,credibility, ,ethnocentrismwasnegativelyandsignifican tlycorrelatedwithhiringrecommendations,s ocialattraction,competence, , , BivariateCorrelationsBetweenEthnocentris mandMeasuresofInterpersonalPerceptionEth nocentrismInterpersonalperceptionRawcorr elationsCorrelations(correctedforattenua tion)Hiringrecommendation** *- * ** ** * * * *'p< ;up< *Sincethismeasurewasa singleitem, wasassumedthesingleitemwasasreliableasth eethnocentrismmeasure( ). is communityofapproximately200, , (N=59)oftheparticipantswatcheda videoofanAsianstudentmanagerreprimanding a whitestudentworkerwhiletheotherhalf(N=64 )watcheda videoofa whitestudentmanagerreprimandinga Forbothvideos, ,whileintheothervideothestudentmanagerwa splayedbya , 's(1997)measureofgeneralizedethnocentris m{GENE).}

10 FollowingthevideosparticipantscompletedM cCroskeyandMcCain's(1974)measureofinterp ersonalattractionthatincludesthreesubsca lesofsocial,physical,andtaskattraction,M cCroskeyandYoung's(1981)measureofcredibi litythatincludesa subscaleforcompetenceandanotherforcharac ter,andtwomeasuresdevelopedforthispartic ularstudy,includinga GeneralizedAttitudeaboutManager(GAM)scal eanda ManagerialEffectiveness(ME) 's(1989)GeneralizedAttitudeScaleandwasco mposedofsixbipolar,seven-stepscales( ,good-bad,wrong-right,harmful-beneficial ,fair-unfair,wise-foolish,negative-posit ive).Participantswereaskedtoindicatethei rfeelingsoneachofthesixbipolarscalesabou t"thestudentmanager:'FortheMEscale,parti cipantswereaskedtoindicatetheirfeelingsa bout"thestudentmanager'sstrategy/conduct withthestudentworker"onfivebipolar,seven -stepscales( ,effective-ineffective,efficient-ineffic ient,capable-incapable,adequate-inadequa te,andskillful-unskillful).ResultsScaleR eliabilitiesInter-itemreliability,asdete rminedbyCronbach'salpha, ,physicalandtaskattractionsubscalesofthe interpersonal50].