LECTURE 9: ORG & SOCIETAL INEQUALITY Flashcards
RECAP: How are organizations typically structured?
All organizations are structured hierarchically:
- social power (control over valued resources, punishments)
- status (respect)
- Other valued resources (e.g., pay)
According to research done by Son Hing, what 4 things does group inequality predict?
- lower group cohesion
- higher group conflict
- greater stress
- Experienced by those at the bottom (Less contribution & inclusion; less respect)
-Experienced by those at the top (Stress about ensuring cohesion/responsibility) - Lower satisfaction with group
How are inequalities typically evaluated within an org?
Pay dispersion - the difference in compensation between or within organizational levels
Various levels of pay dispersion:
- CEO earnings 339:1 median worker earning
- McDonald’s CEO earned 3101:1 median worker earnings
Increasing levels of pay dispersion over time
- As wealth increases, CEO pay increases, average worker doesn’t experience increase
USA has the highest level of pay dispersion
What effect does pay dispersion have on organizations?
More pay dispersion = lower job satisfaction & higher turnover
Debate regarding performance
- Dotted line = weak relation
- Getting paid more motivates one to perform better – better performance
- Perception of performance/not performance based – not motivating
- Greater pay discrepancies = worse motivation to perform
Organizational pay dispersion is a factor in producing ________ _______ ______.
Societal Income Inequality - The amount of spread between the richest and the poorest members of a collective:
1. Neighbourhood
2. State/province
3. Country
Measured as an index of 0 to 1 = gini coefficient
0 – same earnings
1 – one person makes the money
What 3 negative outcomes does greater societal income inequality predict in society ?
- Worse population health: rates of disease, child mortality, life expectancy, rates of depression, mental illness
- Lower felt social capital, trust in neighbours, trust in institutions
- Higher rates of violent crime, higher rates of incarceration
Strongest most robust effects for those at bottom but also find negative effects for those at top
What effects predict the negative outcomes of income inequality?
- Country level:
Health and social problems: index of life expectancy, math & literacy, infant mortality, homicides, imprisonment, teenage births, trust, obesity, mental illness incl addiction, social mobility.
- Low diversity = high levels of social capital; more diversity = more challenges/more social income inequality - Poverty Effects
Some countries have expensive healthcare – those at the bottom cannot afford it; worse insurance; more out of pocket payment
Inequality = long term stress (poor health); constant overworking & stress over living - Lack of infrastructure in poor neighbourhoods
– e.g., hard to find good produce/food in poor areas; more fast food - State level effects
How does income inequality affect us personally? (list 4 ways)
- worse infrastructure - roads, hospitals, electricity, etc.
- greater status competition - keeping up w/ the jones
- greater relative deprivation - feelings you are unfairly doin worse off than those comparable
4.lower social capital (ability to band together, loose social ties)
Despite the negative effects of inequalities, why is there little political will to reduce them? In other words, what individual differences predict attitudes toward the redistribution of income?
- People who earn more money are opposed
- work hard for their money & don’t want to lose it - Political conservatives are opposed
- favour capitalism
- want no income tax/government interference
- believe in charity - people who are more prejudiced are opposed
- concerned about immigrants/ethnic minorities
- assume the poor are NOT white - people who think society is meritocratic are opposed
- most people assume they’re middle class (unless actually poor)
- don’t want to give away money if they too are struggling to make ends meet
What is meritocracy?
A system in which those who are most deserving (greatest inputs, contribute most), get greater outcomes & opportunity to move up:
- Fair assessment of merit
-No bias - Individual responsibility
- Equality of opportunity
4.Social mobility
- Up or down from parents class
What counts as merit?
differences in interpretation
Difficult to compare - on what grounds do we determine merit?
- e.g. skill, respect, age, SES, etc.
often clouded by bias
e.g.
White lives matter – believe skin colour is a form of merit
Women being hired for looks
What are barriers to meritocracy?
Luck - not under individual control
- e.g. Firefighter study = luck; had a student who was a firefighter
Interpersonal factors - favouritism, nepotism, discrimination
cumulative advantage/disadvantage
What is the process of cumulative advantage?
Idea that advantages accumulate throughout the life course
Early advantages (high SES parents) can lead you to accumulation resources your self that helps you develop skills & abilities for later on in life
early advantage -> accumulation of resources -> skill & ability development -> later advantage
e.g. Nepo babies (Monarchy, Kardashians, Hailey Baldwin)
What research supports cumulative advantage?
- By age 3, children with a professional parent will hear 30 million more words than those with poor parents, affecting later cognitive development & school performance
- Families in top income quintile spend 8X than bottom income quintile on children’s enrichment(e.g., educational camps)
- 50% of kids from families from top quartile go to University vs. 31% from bottom quartile, resulting in earnings gap
What is cumulative disadvantage?
opposite
early disadvantage -> accumulation of demands -> stress & ill being -> later disadvantage
