ABSTRACT
The process by which people become full members of existing social groups has long been of interest to organizational researchers. The socialization process, including its content (Chao, O’Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994), harshness (Irving & Meyer, 1994), and uncertainty (Louis, 1980), influences newcomers’ attitudes toward the group as well as their motivation and ability to achieve group goals (Saks, 1995). At the same time, stereotyping researchers have long been interested in how people come to perceive ingroups differently from outgroups. In particular, a great deal of research during the last two decades indicates that an important determinant of perceived group variability is simply whether the perceiver belongs to the group being judged; ingroups are often perceived to be more variable than outgroups (Park & Rothbart, 1982). Our goal in this chapter is to consider both the organizational and stereotyping literatures in an effort to understand how the process of socialization influences perceptions of ingroup and outgroup variability.
