Are male tokens bad for females? The effect of social dominance orientation on high-status tokens' evaluations of low-status members

• Published in: Journal of applied social psychology Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 55 - 66
• Main Authors: Simmons, Aneika L., Watkins, Marla Baskerville, Umphress, Elizabeth E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Candidates; Females; Social psychology
• ISSN: 0021-9029; 1559-1816
• DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12275

Prior research has not given much attention to understanding how those in the numeric minority (i.e., tokens) with high social status (e.g., males) react to those with low social status (e.g., females). We draw from social dominance orientation (SDO) to better understand how male tokens' beliefs about group‐based hierarchies affect their evaluation of a highly qualified female candidate. We conducted a laboratory study in which participants were placed in a selection situation and were asked to evaluate a highly qualified female candidate. We discovered a significant interaction between token status and SDO such that male tokens who were high in SDO were more likely to evaluate negatively a highly qualified female.