Quotas and affirmative action: Understanding group-based outcomes and attitudes
Morgenroth, T; Ryan, M
Date: 12 February 2018
Article
Journal
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
Publisher
Wiley
Publisher DOI
Abstract
More and more countries are adopting quotas to increase group-based equality in the
boardroom and the political sphere. Nevertheless, affirmative action in general, and quotas in
particular, remain a highly controversial subject – eliciting negative reactions from privileged
groups, while support among minority and lower-status ...
More and more countries are adopting quotas to increase group-based equality in the
boardroom and the political sphere. Nevertheless, affirmative action in general, and quotas in
particular, remain a highly controversial subject – eliciting negative reactions from privileged
groups, while support among minority and lower-status groups is generally higher. Focusing on
gender, we take a broad approach to the topic and discuss (a) the effects of quotas and affirmative
action on the underrepresentation of minority groups and on perceptions of their competence, (b)
the effects of quotas and affirmative action on organisational performance, and (c) predictors of
attitudes towards affirmative action and quotas. We conclude that the benefits of quotas outweigh
their costs and that they are an effective way of tackling group-based inequality. We also discuss
strategies that can be used to elicit more support among those groups that are particularly critical of
quotas.
Psychology - old structure
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