Journal Article

Temporal Distance and Discrimination: An Audit Study in Academia

Chugh, Dolly, Milkman, Katherine L., Akinola, Modupe

2012

Overview

Through a field experiment set in academia (with a sample of 6,548 professors), we found that decisions about distant-future events were more likely to generate discrimination against women and minorities (relative to Caucasian males) than were decisions about near-future events. In our study, faculty members received e-mails from fictional prospective doctoral students seeking to schedule a meeting either that day or in 1 week; students' names signaled their race (Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Indian, or Chinese) and gender. When the requests were to meet in 1 week, Caucasian males were granted access to faculty members 26% more often than were women and minorities; also, compared with women and minorities, Caucasian males received more and faster responses. However, these patterns were essentially eliminated when prospective students requested a meeting that same day. Our identification of a temporal discrimination effect is consistent with the predictions of construal-level theory and implies that subtle contextual shifts can alter patterns of race- and gender-based discrimination.

• Publisher: SAGE Publications,Sage Publications,SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subject: Adult / African Americans / Attitudes / Behavior. Attitude / Biological and medical sciences / College Faculty / Decision making / Decisions / Discrimination / Ethnic Groups / Faculty / Female / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Future / Gender / Gender differences / Gender discrimination / Gender relations / Graduate students / Hispanic Americans / Hispanics / Humans / Interethnic relations / Interpersonal Relations / Least squares / Maastricht Treaty / Male / Males / Minority group students / Minority Groups / Modeling / Native Americans / Prejudice / Psychological Tests / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychophysiology / Race / Racial discrimination / Racism / Racism - psychology / Random Allocation / Regression analysis / Research Report / Same day / Sex discrimination / Sex Factors / Sexism - psychology / Social Discrimination - ethnology / Social Discrimination - psychology / Social interactions. Communication. Group processes / Social psychology / Stereotypes / Students / Time / Time Factors / Universities / White people / Women / Womens studies