ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we focus specifically on the roles of status and power differences between groups and how these complicate and exacerbate intergroup
relations at work. Systems and procedures using grades, classes, rankings, negative feedback, performance evaluations, and external critiques all have the potential to devalue members of one group relative to others. Negative consequences may be expected to strike members of devalued groups most severely, causing them to withdraw from academic and profeSSional pursuits and, in some cases, to internalize a sense of their own inferiority (e.g., Dutton & Dukerich, 1991; Elsbach, 1999; Jost & Burgess, 2000; Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Steele, 1997; Steele & Aronson, 1995). Thus, hierarchical relationships in society and at work threaten the self-concepts and social identities of members of devalued groups (e.g., Elsbach & Kramer, 1996; Jost & Banaji, 1994; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999).
