Racial composition of workgroups and job satifactio among whites
By: MAUME, David J
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Contributor(s): SEBASTIAN, Rachel.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: Thousand Oaks : SAGE, January 2007The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science 609, p. 85-103Abstract: Despite decades of research on job satisfaction, few analysts have examined the relative explanatory power of the demographic composition of the workgroup against traditional predictors that focus on the characteristics of workers' jobs. This article drew from the organizational demography and status composition perspectives to examine the effects of workgroup racial composition on white job satisfaction. The sample consisted of non-Hispanic whites who responded to the 2002 National Study of the Workforce. The findings showed that an increase in the number of minority coworkers negatively affected job satisfaction among whites, until the characteristics of jobs were controlled. The results support the status composition perspective in suggesting that whites are not overtly biased against minority coworkers but rather become dissatisfied with the less favored jobs they share with minorities.
Despite decades of research on job satisfaction, few analysts have examined the relative explanatory power of the demographic composition of the workgroup against traditional predictors that focus on the characteristics of workers' jobs. This article drew from the organizational demography and status composition perspectives to examine the effects of workgroup racial composition on white job satisfaction. The sample consisted of non-Hispanic whites who responded to the 2002 National Study of the Workforce. The findings showed that an increase in the number of minority coworkers negatively affected job satisfaction among whites, until the characteristics of jobs were controlled. The results support the status composition perspective in suggesting that whites are not overtly biased against minority coworkers but rather become dissatisfied with the less favored jobs they share with minorities.
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