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Constructed Criteria. Redefining Merit to Justify Discrimination

Author

Listed:
  • Eric Luis Uhlmann

    (Kellogg [Northwestern] - Kellogg School of Management [Northwestern University, Evanston] - Northwestern University [Evanston])

  • Geoffrey Cohen

    (Department of Psychology - Yale University [New Haven])

Abstract

This article presents an account of job discrimination according to which people redefine merit in a manner congenial to the idiosyncratic credentials of individual applicants from desired groups. In three studies, participants assigned male and female applicants to gender-stereotypical jobs. However, they did not view male and female applicants as having different strengths and weaknesses. Instead, they redefined the criteria for success at the job as requiring the specific credentials that a candidate of the desired gender happened to have. Commitment to hiring criteria prior to disclosure of the applicant's gender eliminated discrimination, suggesting that bias in the construction of hiring criteria plays a causal role in discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Luis Uhlmann & Geoffrey Cohen, 2005. "Constructed Criteria. Redefining Merit to Justify Discrimination," Post-Print hal-00516601, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00516601
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.01559.x
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Devi Vijay & Vivek G. Nair, 2022. "In the Name of Merit: Ethical Violence and Inequality at a Business School," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 315-337, August.
    2. Alison T. Wynn & Shelley J. Correll, 2017. "Gendered Perceptions of Cultural and Skill Alignment in Technology Companies," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-28, May.
    3. Nicole M Lindner & Alexander Graser & Brian A Nosek, 2014. "Age-Based Hiring Discrimination as a Function of Equity Norms and Self-Perceived Objectivity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-6, January.
    4. Joya Misra & Laurel Smith-Doerr & Nilanjana Dasgupta & Gabriela Weaver & Jennifer Normanly, 2017. "Collaboration and Gender Equity among Academic Scientists," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, March.
    5. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo, 2016. "Field Experiments on Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 22014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Barron, Kai & Ditlmann, Ruth & Gehrig, Stefan & Schweighofer-Kodritsch, Sebastian, 2020. "Explicit and implicit belief-based gender discrimination: A hiring experiment," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economics of Change SP II 2020-306, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Maximilian Kasy, 2023. "Algorithmic bias and racial inequality: A critical review," Economics Series Working Papers 1015, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    8. Tyler Saxon, 2021. "Military Subsidization of Human Capital and Gender Stratification in the US Economy," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(2), pages 250-265, June.
    9. Raviv Murciano-Goroff, 2022. "Missing Women in Tech: The Labor Market for Highly Skilled Software Engineers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3262-3281, May.
    10. Ben-Amar, Walid & Bujaki, Merridee & McConomy, Bruce & McIlkenny, Philip, 2021. "Gendering merit: How the discourse of merit in diversity disclosures supports the gendered status quo on Canadian corporate boards," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. William Darity, 2013. "Confronting those affirmative action grumbles," Chapters, in: Jeannette Wicks-Lim & Robert Pollin (ed.), Capitalism on Trial, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Jean S. Clarke & Cheryl Hurst & Jennifer Tomlinson, 2024. "Maintaining the meritocracy myth : A critical discourse analytic study of leaders’ talk about merit and gender in academia," Post-Print hal-04479149, HAL.
    13. repec:cup:judgdm:v:4:y:2009:i:6:p:479-491 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. William T Self & Gregory Mitchell & Barbara A Mellers & Philip E Tetlock & J Angus D Hildreth, 2015. "Balancing Fairness and Efficiency: The Impact of Identity-Blind and Identity-Conscious Accountability on Applicant Screening," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Punam Raj & Mrinalini Pandey & Asrana Khatoon, 2023. "Breaking the Mold-Analyzing Gender Stereotyping in the Workplace Through Bibliometric and Content Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    16. Heilman, Madeline E. & Manzi, Francesca & Caleo, Suzette, 2019. "Updating impressions: The differential effects of new performance information on evaluations of women and men," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 105-121.
    17. Shibashish Mukherjee & Sorin M.S. Krammer, 2024. "When the going gets tough : Board gender diversity in the wake of a major crisis," Post-Print hal-04522722, HAL.
    18. Schaerer, Michael & du Plessis, Christilene & Nguyen, My Hoang Bao & van Aert, Robbie C.M. & Tiokhin, Leo & Lakens, Daniël & Giulia Clemente, Elena & Pfeiffer, Thomas & Dreber, Anna & Johannesson, Mag, 2023. "On the trajectory of discrimination: A meta-analysis and forecasting survey capturing 44 years of field experiments on gender and hiring decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    19. Ariella S. Kristal & Leonie Nicks & Jamie L. Gloor & Oliver P. Hauser, 2023. "Reducing discrimination against job seekers with and without employment gaps," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(2), pages 211-218, February.
    20. Uhlmann, Eric Luis & Cohen, Geoffrey L., 2007. ""I think it, therefore it's true": Effects of self-perceived objectivity on hiring discrimination," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 207-223, November.
    21. Eric Luis Uhlmann & David A. Pizarro & David Tannenbaum & Peter H. Ditto, 2009. "The motivated use of moral principles," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 4(6), pages 479-491, October.
    22. Moore, Celia & Tenbrunsel, Ann E., 2014. "“Just think about it”? Cognitive complexity and moral choice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 138-149.
    23. Tierney, Warren & Hardy, Jay H. & Ebersole, Charles R. & Leavitt, Keith & Viganola, Domenico & Clemente, Elena Giulia & Gordon, Michael & Dreber, Anna & Johannesson, Magnus & Pfeiffer, Thomas & Uhlman, 2020. "Creative destruction in science," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 291-309.
    24. Wiltermuth, Scott S., 2011. "Cheating more when the spoils are split," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 157-168, July.
    25. Carolina Castagnetti & Luisa Rosti & Marina Töpfer, 2020. "Discriminate me — If you can! The disappearance of the gender pay gap among public‐contest selected employees in Italy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1040-1076, November.

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    Keywords

    Constructed Criteria; Discrimination;

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