An Experience-Sampling Investigation of Attributions and Outcomes of Workplace Discrimination

Modern workplace discrimination – low-level, subtle behaviors that isolate or handicap others – is on the rise, bearing negative consequences for employees’ well-being. Despite a large literature focused on identifying subtle discriminatory behaviors and the associated outcomes, theory and empirical tests involving dynamic, within-person processes associated with these negative behaviors is limited. Drawing from attribution theory, we test how experiencing modern workplace discrimination differentially affects negative outcomes via attributed locus of causality. Using an experience sampling design across a five-day period, we found that individuals who experienced modern workplace discrimination behaviors at work were more likely to make external, rather than internal, blame attributions. Further, internal attributions were associated with decreased state self-esteem, whereas external attributions were associated with decreased state job satisfaction. Moreover, women in our sample reported a greater number of discriminatory experiences and were more likely than men to attribute those experiences to the prejudice of others. Combined, our results yield multiple theoretical, empirical, and practical implications for the study of modern workplace discrimination.