How Individuals and Organizations Can Reduce Interpersonal Discrimination

Abstract

Individuals do not always face overt, unambiguous forms of discrimination that often have legal repercussions. Rather, the current paper introduces the construct of interpersonal discrimination, a set of behaviors (e.g., increased interpersonal hostility, decreased eye contact, abbreviated interactions) that has negative implications for both individuals and organizations. For individuals, interpersonal discrimination may result in consequences such as lowered performance (2009, doctoral dissertation, Rice University). For organizations, this type of discrimination may lead to negative bottom line consequences (Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 2006, 579–592). Individuals and organizations can both take steps to combat this discrimination and in this article, we review these strategies. While research on some individual-level strategies in reducing interpersonal discrimination is showing success, the research on other strategies (from allies and organizations) is sparse, and we end by encouraging such future research.