A new study from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business has found that social class inequality in the workplace persists not only because of external factors such as bias and โglass ceilingsโ, but also because of structural factors that discourage relatively low-class people from seeking positions of power in the first place.
The paper, co-authored by Peter Belmiย of the Darden School of Business and Kristin Laurin of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, reveals that most people believe that getting ahead requires a mixture of pro-social behaviour โ such as being competent, hard-working and a team player โ and political behaviour โ such as being outspoken, flattering and treating others as โresourcesโ.
According to the research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, inequality begins to thrive in the disparity between which groups are actually willing to put both behaviours into practice. Even though everyone derides political angling, it turns out that relatively high-class individuals are still willing to play the game to get ahead. Not so with lower-class individuals.
โCompared with individuals with relatively high social class, those with relatively low social class are less interested in seeking positions of power using political means, and as a result are less interested in seeking positions of power more broadly,โ said Professor Belmi.
The notion that political behaviour is required for advancement dissuades relative low-class individuals from seeking positions of power because they see such behaviours as abrasive to their values and beliefs.
To explain the root cause, Professor Belmi points to previous studies, which found that people of โrelatively low social class are more strongly focused on others and less focused on themselves.โ This manifests as being โmore oriented toward interdependence, community and harmony; they pay more attention to the emotions of others, listen more empathetically to the perspectives of others, give more weight to social and communal relationships than to monetary gain, and feel more strongly opposed to advancement at the expense of others.โ He adds that another study has shown that โthey are not as narcissistic as their high-class counterparts.โ
With these values, it is perhaps no surprise that low-class individuals tend to find political manoeuvring especially โunpleasant and distasteful,โ which dissuades them โfrom seeking that advancement in the first place.โ
The findings of seven different studies indicate that, even though individuals with relatively low social class see political behaviour as necessary and effective for acquiring positions of power, they are reluctant to do it; as a result, they have a weaker tendency to seek positions of power compared to individuals with relatively high social class.
โConsistent with our theorising, we also found that individuals with relatively low social class intend to seek positions of power as much as their high-class counterparts when they can acquire it through pro-social means, and when they reconstrue power as serving a superordinate goal of helping others. Moreover, we checked the robustness of our findings by measuring social class in a number of ways within each study, and examined whether our results held across each measure.
โTogether, our findings suggest that the common belief that political behaviour is required for advancement may help explain why class inequalities persist and why creating class-based diversity in upper-level positions poses a serious challenge.โ
How to level the playing field in your office
Managers may encourage individuals with relatively low social class to seek advancement by creating more merit-based cultures. They may also help socially-disadvantaged individuals overcome their aversion to office politics by helping them reframe the purpose of seeking power to include the good of the community with the good of the individual. By reframing the purpose of power, lower-class individuals may feel that arriving at the top need not conflict with their core values and sense of self.
Here are Professor Belmiโs top three recommendations for creating a more level playing field across class boundaries:
- Create a culture of merit-based advancement. Make promotions and other competitions as transparent as possible by providing clear metrics for evaluation, based on competence and technical skills.
- In so far as office politics are unavoidable, remind people that positions of power should be understood primarily for the impact and benefit they can confer on others.
- Last but not least, have an honest look at your firmโs culture, and make efforts to fix problems of stigma and prejudice, particularly in hiring and promotion cycles.
