Race and ethnicity in the workplace: spotlighting the perspectives of historically stigmatized groups.

Racial and ethnic identity matter and are salient for people in the workplace--a place where people spend a substantial amount of their time. This special issue brings the workplace into the domain of racial and ethnic minority psychology. It also brings to the study of the workplace a relatively neglected perspective: that of people from historically stigmatized racial and ethnic groups. Though there is, of course, need for more work with different themes, outcomes, and populations, this special issue takes us an important step in the direction of understanding better and giving voice to the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in the workplace.

Blind consent? A social psychological investigation of non-readership of click-through agreements.

Across two studies we aimed to measure empirically the extent of non-readership of click-through agreements (CTAs), identify the dominant beliefs about CTAs contributing to non-readership, and experimentally manipulate these beliefs to decrease automatic non-reading behavior and enhance contract efficiency. In our initial questionnaire study (Study 1), as predicted, the vast majority of participants reported not reading CTAs and the most prevalent beliefs about CTAs contributing to non-readership included: they are too long and time-consuming, they are all the same, they give one no choice but to agree, they are irrelevant, and vendors are generally reputable. Manipulating these beliefs on a simulated music website (Study 2) revealed an increase in readership. In addition, CTA comprehension and CTA rejection rates were both increased significantly by manipulating the length of the CTA. These results demonstrate support for the influence of widely held beliefs about CTAs on contract readership, provide evidence against the common "limited cognition" perspective on non-readership, and suggest that presenting CTAs in a short, readable format can increase CTA readership and comprehension as well as shopping of CTA terms.

The cultural grounding of personal relationship: the importance of attractiveness in everyday life.

Previous research has suggested that physically attractive people experience more positive life outcomes than do unattractive people. However, the importance of physical attractiveness in everyday life may vary depending on the extent to which different cultural worlds afford or require individual choice in the construction and maintenance of personal relationships. The authors hypothesized that attractiveness matters more for life outcomes in settings that promote voluntaristic-independent constructions of relationship as the product of personal choice than it does in settings that promote embedded-interdependent constructions of relationship as an environmental affordance. Study 1 examined self-reported outcomes of attractive and unattractive persons. Study 2 examined expectations about attractive and unattractive targets. Results provide support for the hypothesis along four dimensions: national context, relationship context, rural-urban context, and experimental manipulation of relationship constructions. These patterns suggest that the importance of physical attractiveness documented by psychological research is the product of particular constructions of reality.

Researchers of Color, Fame, and Impact.

Fame and eminence, as traditionally measured, limit the definition of impact to the publication world. We add two types of impact to the traditional measures of fame and eminence. Many of the traditional measures of fame or eminence are based on social-network connections, whereby individuals appoint other people to positions of eminence. Editorial boards are one specific example. Eminence is also limited to number of publications, for example, with little regard for the impact of those publications at the societal level. In addition to the dominant measures of eminence, societal impact broadens the definition of impact to reflect real-world changes. Two examples include mentoring, which is rarely mentioned as a criterion for eminence, and policy value, such as when research influences important public policy. These additions are discussed in reference to the general underrepresentation of researchers of color in academia.

Place matters: consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self.

Consensual and regionally distinct features of well-being and self were examined in a nationally representative survey of midlife Americans (ages 25-75). Consistent with key American ideology, Study 1 found that a majority of Americans believe they have high levels of mastery, purpose, life satisfaction, overall health, family and work obligation, and partner and family support. Study 2 found distinct regional well-being profiles (e.g., New England reflected concern with not being constrained by others; Mountain showed concern with environmental mastery; West South Central with personal growth and feeling cheerful and happy; West North Central with feeling calm, peaceful, and satisfied; and East South Central with contributing to others' well-being). Study 3 found regional self profiles consistent with the well-being profiles.

The cultural construction of self and well-being: a tale of two cities.

Does local context (e.g., city of residence) matter for self and well-being? We theorized that it does because local contexts diverge in prevalent historically-derived ideas, norms, and products. Through historical analysis, studies of norms (tightness-looseness; Study 1) and cultural products (content analyses of newspaper headlines, venture capital firm websites, hospital websites; Studies 2-4), and studies assessing individuals' self and well-being (Studies 5-7), we compared Boston and San Francisco-similar cities on many metrics. We find that self and well-being are, in some important part, local. Reflecting themes of "old and established," Boston's history and cultural products emphasize tradition, status, and community, and social norms are relatively tight; accordingly feelings and selves are socially contingent. In contrast, reflecting themes of "new and free," San Francisco's history and cultural products emphasize unlimited possibility, egalitarianism, and innovation, and social norms are relatively loose; accordingly feelings and selves are relatively less contingent on others.

Law and the Zero-Sum Game of Discrimination: Commentary on Norton and Sommers (2011).

Norton and Sommers (2011, this issue) find that Whites see discrimination as a zero-sum game that they are now losing. This psychological finding has serious implications for antidiscrimination law. This commentary briefly traces the relevant, recent history of antidiscrimination law and explains the consequences of the zero-sum finding in three related areas: affirmative action, disparate treatment, and disparate impact. In all three areas, the zero-sum finding-and the presumption of intentional discrimination against Whites that it indicates-upsets the structure of antidiscrimination law traditionally designed to remedy discrimination against historically disadvantaged racial minorities. Moreover, the zero-sum finding suggests that recent ballot initiatives banning affirmative action and recent, pivotal Supreme Court opinions limiting antidiscrimination laws that were originally erected to prevent the exclusion of racial minorities are not just the product of voters in a handful of states, of a few disgruntled White employees or university applicants, or of a few justices, but rather are reflective of a more widespread societal sentiment.

"What about me?" Perceptions of exclusion and whites' reactions to multiculturalism.

A 5-study investigation of reactions of dominant group members (i.e., White Americans) to diversity (relative to racial minority reactions) provides evidence of implicit and explicit associations between multiculturalism and exclusion and of a relationship between perceived exclusion and reactions to diversity. In Study 1, Whites but not racial minorities were faster in an implicit association task at pairing multiculturalism with exclusion than with inclusion. This association diminished in Study 2 through a subtle framing of diversity efforts as targeted toward all groups, including European Americans. In Study 3, in a "Me/Not Me" task, Whites were less likely than minorities to pair multiculturalism concepts with the self and were slower in responding to multiculturalism concepts. Furthermore, associating multiculturalism with the self (Study 3) or feeling included in organizational diversity (Study 4) predicted Whites' endorsement of diversity and also accounted for the oft-cited group status difference in support for diversity initiatives. Study 5 showed that individual differences in need to belong moderated Whites' interest in working for organizations that espouse a multicultural versus a color-blind approach to diversity, with individuals higher in need to belong less attracted to organizations with a multicultural approach. Overall, results show that the purportedly "inclusive" ideology of multiculturalism is not perceived as such by Whites. This may, in part, account for their lower support for diversity efforts in education and work settings.

Explaining Underrepresentation: A Theory of Precluded Interest.

What processes best explain women's underrepresentation in science, math, and engineering fields in the U.S.? Do they also explain men's underrepresentation in the humanities? Two survey studies across two U.S. West Coast universities (N = 62; N = 614) addressed these questions in the context of two fields: one male-dominated (computer science) and the other female-dominated (English). Among a set of social predictors-including perceived similarity to the people in the field, social identity threats, and expectations of success-the best mediator of women's lower interest in computer science and men's lower interest in English was perceived similarity. Thus, changing students' social perceptions of how they relate to those in the field may help to diversify academic fields.

Predicting whether multiculturalism positively or negatively influences White Americans' intergroup attitudes: the role of ethnic identification.

Multiculturalism, or the belief that racial and ethnic differences should be acknowledged and appreciated, has been met with both positive reactions (e.g., decreased prejudice) and negative reactions (e.g., perceptions of threat) from dominant group members. The present research proposes that multiculturalism can either positively or negatively influence White Americans' intergroup attitudes depending on their degree of ethnic identification. In Studies 1 and 2, White Americans primed with multiculturalism exhibited higher social dominance orientation (Study 1) and greater prejudice (Study 2), especially when they identified strongly with their ethnicity. In Study 3, perceptions of threat to group values were found to mediate the relation between multiculturalism, ethnic identification, and prejudice among White Americans. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for threat perceptions, ethnic identification, and conceptions of diversity.

Ethos of independence across regions in the United States: the production-adoption model of cultural change.

Contemporary U.S. culture has a highly individualistic ethos. Nevertheless, exactly how this ethos was historically fostered remains unanalyzed. A new model of dynamic cultural change maintains that sparsely populated, novel environments that impose major threats to survival, such as the Western frontier in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries, breed strong values of independence, which in turn guide the production of new practices that encourage self-promotion and focused, competitive work. Faced with few significant threats to survival, residents in traditional areas are likely to seek social prestige by adopting existing practices of other, higher status groups. Because of both the massive economic success of the frontier and the official endorsement of the frontier by the federal government, eastern residents of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries may have actively adopted the frontier practices of independence, thus incorporating the frontier ethos of independence to form the contemporary U.S. national culture. Available evidence is reviewed, and implications for further research on cultural change are suggested.

Diversity in laboratory animal science: issues and initiatives.

Since diversity in the workplace began receiving scholarly attention in the late 1980s, many corporations and institutions have invested in programs to address and manage diversity. We encourage laboratory animal science to address the challenges and to build on the strengths that personal diversity brings to our field and workplaces. Diversity is already becoming increasingly relevant in the workplace and the laboratory animal science field. By addressing issues related to diversity, laboratory animal science could benefit and potentially fulfill its goals more successfully. To date, diversity has received minimal attention from the field as a whole. However, many individuals, workplaces, and institutions in industry, academia, and the uniformed services that are intimately involved with the field of laboratory animal science are actively addressing issues concerning diversity. This article describes some of these programs and activities in industry and academia. Our intention is that this article will provide useful examples of inclusion-promoting activities and prompt further initiatives to address diversity awareness and inclusion in laboratory animal science.

Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science.

People can make decisions to join a group based solely on exposure to that group's physical environment. Four studies demonstrate that the gender difference in interest in computer science is influenced by exposure to environments associated with computer scientists. In Study 1, simply changing the objects in a computer science classroom from those considered stereotypical of computer science (e.g., Star Trek poster, video games) to objects not considered stereotypical of computer science (e.g., nature poster, phone books) was sufficient to boost female undergraduates' interest in computer science to the level of their male peers. Further investigation revealed that the stereotypical broadcast a masculine stereotype that discouraged women's sense of ambient belonging and subsequent interest in the environment (Studies 2, 3, and 4) but had no similar effect on men (Studies 3, 4). This masculine stereotype prevented women's interest from developing even in environments entirely populated by other women (Study 2). Objects can thus come to broadcast stereotypes of a group, which in turn can deter people who do not identify with these stereotypes from joining that group.