Blacks generally have more routine jobs, rarely hold positions of responsibility, have fewer office friends and do not get much support from co-workers. Despite such tough working conditions, blacks display more positive emotions in their work place than whites, according to a press statement released by the American Sociological Association.
"We were surprised by this," said lead author Melissa M. Sloan, an assistant professor of interdisciplinary social sciences and sociology at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. "Based on the history of discrimination against African Americans in the workplace, we thought blacks would experience more negative emotions at work than whites. As it turned out, the opposite was true."
Researchers also found that in work places that had a higher percentage of minority workers, blacks reported having more close friends at work than whites. And in places that had a lower percentage of minority workers, less than 13 percent blacks admitted to having close friends at work. They revealed that 39 percent of their co-workers were close friends versus 61 percent for white workers. When the situation was reversed, more than 35 percent black workers considered about 42 percent of their co-workers to be close friends versus 46 percent for white workers.
Sloan also found that higher the percentage of minority workers, the more displeasure and negative emotions white workers displayed.
"This is a concern because the increased negative emotions of white workers in racially diverse workplaces can negatively impact the workplace atmosphere," Sloan said.
Researchers also found that social support to co-workers triggered more negative experiences for whites but positive ones for blacks. While this support makes black workers feel more valued and appreciated, white workers take this support to be a burden.
The findings of this study reveals that organizations may need to adopt different strategies while dealing with workers from different ethnicity and racial backgrounds in order to encourage supportive relationships with each other.
"Simply increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the workplace might not be enough to foster social connections between workers with different backgrounds and, in fact, may elicit negative emotions among members of the majority group," Sloan concluded.
