Advisor Information
Carey Ryan
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
26-3-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
26-3-2021 12:00 AM
Abstract
Although all forms of religious discrimination are understudied (Ghumman et al., 2013), we examined how Christian Americans, the dominant religious group in the U.S., perceive the fairness of religious workplace accommodations. We examined and two potential correlates of their perceptions: religious fundamentalism and prejudice towards outgroup religions. In one session, participants completed measures of religious fundamentalism and prejudice. Approximately three days later, they read three target and five filler descriptions of an employee requesting a workplace accommodation. Participants indicated how fair the request was to the employee, how fair the request was to the employee’s coworkers, how reasonable the request was, and whether they sided with the employee or the employer. All scenarios were based on court cases in which the courts sided with the employee; the three target scenarios described requests for religious accommodations by a Christian employee, a Jewish employee, and a Muslim employee. Results showed that participants who were higher in religious fundamentalism judged the Christian accommodation as more reasonable than both Jewish and Muslim accommodations, thereby favoring their in-group. Additionally, participants who were higher in fundamentalism were more likely to side with a Christian (vs. Jewish) employee relative to the employer. Further, participants higher in prejudice against Muslims viewed the Muslim (vs. the Jewish) employee’s request as less reasonable and more difficult to implement. Understanding the factors that influence perceptions of religious workplace accommodations may help organizations identify ways to lessen problems associated with their provision and promote more positive relationships between religious groups.
Perceptions of Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
Although all forms of religious discrimination are understudied (Ghumman et al., 2013), we examined how Christian Americans, the dominant religious group in the U.S., perceive the fairness of religious workplace accommodations. We examined and two potential correlates of their perceptions: religious fundamentalism and prejudice towards outgroup religions. In one session, participants completed measures of religious fundamentalism and prejudice. Approximately three days later, they read three target and five filler descriptions of an employee requesting a workplace accommodation. Participants indicated how fair the request was to the employee, how fair the request was to the employee’s coworkers, how reasonable the request was, and whether they sided with the employee or the employer. All scenarios were based on court cases in which the courts sided with the employee; the three target scenarios described requests for religious accommodations by a Christian employee, a Jewish employee, and a Muslim employee. Results showed that participants who were higher in religious fundamentalism judged the Christian accommodation as more reasonable than both Jewish and Muslim accommodations, thereby favoring their in-group. Additionally, participants who were higher in fundamentalism were more likely to side with a Christian (vs. Jewish) employee relative to the employer. Further, participants higher in prejudice against Muslims viewed the Muslim (vs. the Jewish) employee’s request as less reasonable and more difficult to implement. Understanding the factors that influence perceptions of religious workplace accommodations may help organizations identify ways to lessen problems associated with their provision and promote more positive relationships between religious groups.