People hear biased comments all too often in their everyday workplace interactions. For example, a woman might be told that women generally lack aptitude for leadership or technical fields. Racial minorities might hear statements embodying negative stereotypes of their race.
When Confronting a Biased Comment Can Increase Your Sense of Belonging at Work
Right after hearing biased comments, people generally face a choice: do they confront the speaker or remain silent? Researchers sought to understand what happens after either response. Does speaking out against a biased comment make you feel better or worse about the person who said it? And how does this affect your satisfaction and belonging at work? The hypothesis was that these answers would depend on people’s mindsets about personality — whether they thought people could change. In four studies that involved a total of 464 racial minority and women participants in the U.S., they found that when participants both held a growth mindset (believing people can change) and confronted the bias, they felt better about the person who made the biased comment and thus retained their belonging and satisfaction at work.