
Elissa L. PerryColumbia University | CU · Social-Organizational Psychology
Elissa L. Perry
PhD
About
62
Publications
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Introduction
Elissa studies the role of demographic characteristics (e.g., age, generational membership, sex, race, disability) in human resource decision making, organizational behavior, and organizational outcomes. She is interested in the application of evidence-based approaches (training, leadership development) and systemic thinking to the practice of diversity management and the creation of inclusive workplaces.
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (62)
Human Resources for the Non-HR Manager gives every manager, regardless of their functional role, access to cutting-edge research and evidence-based recommendations so they can approach their people management responsibilities with confidence.
Day-to-day people management is increasingly the responsibility of front-line managers, not HR professiona...
The current study examined the relationship between faculty gender diversity (GD) and college and university level outcomes and the role that diversity climate (DC) plays in these relationships in a sample of N = 282 4-year, public and private, non-profit, degree granting institutions in the U.S. Based on social categorization and signaling theorie...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a model that explores the relationship between inclusive leadership, inclusive climates and sexual harassment and other negative work-related outcomes, at the work unit and individual levels.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model of inclusive work unit leadership, inclusive work unit climate...
This study explored how age compared to generational metastereotypes (i.e., what people think other people believe about their age group/generation) affect older adults’ sense of agency and stereotype threat and, consequently, their job search self-efficacy. We conducted an experiment including N = 183 participants between 50 and 79 years of age, a...
Sexual harassment training: Often necessary but rarely sufficient - Volume 12 Issue 1 - Elissa L. Perry, Carol T. Kulik, Francis D. Golom, Mateo Cruz
Research suggests that the extent to which there is a demographic match between employees and important stakeholder groups (e.g., customers, managers) can influence relevant organizational outcomes. However, demographic matching at the organizational level is understudied, and there remains uncertainty regarding how it should be conceptualized and...
This paper provides a qualitative review of research related to sexual harassment interventions employed in institutions of higher education (IHEs) and introduces a needs assessment process that IHE administrators can use to inform their choice of intervention. Additionally, this paper provides direction regarding how to assess the impact of sexual...
Although defined in numerous and sometimes inconsistent ways in the literature, diversity climate can be described as employees’ shared perceptions of the extent to which their organization values diversity as reflected in the policies, practices, and procedures that the organization rewards, supports, and expects. Diversity climate studied at the...
Using a pretest/post‐test, survey design, we examine whether organizational tolerance for sexual harassment (OTSH) affects HR managers' knowledge and myth‐based attitudes regarding sexual harassment, following training intended to improve HR managers' ability to conduct an internal investigation related to sexual harassment. We also examine the med...
Sexual harassment (SH) is an increasingly prominent issue for organisations across the Asia Pacific. However, despite the costs of SH, there has been little consideration of why approaches to SH training vary so widely across countries. We report findings from two national surveys that document the prevalence and characteristics of SH training in A...
Two scenario-based studies were conducted to explore the relative impact of a job candidate's age compared to gener-ational membership on hiring-related perceptions and outcomes. Study 1 used paper stimulus materials and manipulated whether a job candidate was described as 60 years old, a Baby Boomer, 29 years old, or a Gen-Y/Millennial. Graduate s...
Although we agree with Costanza and Finkelstein (2015) that current research has failed to find consistent evidence of actual generational differences and that this research is limited methodologically, we suggest that at least some of these limitations could and should be addressed by future research before any firm conclusions are drawn. Further,...
Inspired by Rynes and Barber's and Avery and McKay's theoretical work, we examined factors that influence organizations’ decision to target older applicants and the influence of this decision on other recruiting strategies. Our study of two samples of HR professionals provides mixed support for these theoretical frameworks. Incumbent age and an org...
We examined the gaps between research-based sexual harassment training practices human resource (HR) managers believe their organization should use and the practices their organizations actually use (knowing-doing gaps). We studied individual (attitudes about academics) and organizational predictors (senior management support, managerial rewards, a...
Two perspectives have been used to understand the experiences of aging workers in the workplace: the age discrimination and diversity perspective, and the relational demography perspective. We suggest that these approaches are limited and that Person-Environment (P-E) fit theory provides a broader theoretical framework that is potentially more usef...
The current study explored the use of best training practices on human resources managers' perceptions of sexual harassment training success and frequency of sexual harassment complaints. Results revealed no main effects of best training practices on sexual harassment training success. However, effects of best training practices on sexual harassmen...
Sexual harassment training is a common human resource activity, and the practitioner literature is replete with advice about how to implement it. Little research, however, has specifically explored what makes sexual harassment training effective. This paper uses what we know from general training research and theory and sexual harassment research t...
This research explores the possibility that devolving people-management activities to line managers might transform an HR unit and improve its reputation within its organization. We examined the effect of devolving people-management responsibilities to line managers on HR managers' construed image—their perceptions of the internal reputation of the...
The devolution of human resource responsibilities from human resource managers to line managers is both a growing and global trend. A number of authors has suggested that there are positive as well as negative consequences of devolution. The current study conducted a survey of US human resource managers to explore the effect of devolution on human...
Research has demonstrated that organizational decision makers use categories and associated stereotypes to make hiring decisions. But what happens when a job applicant can be categorized in multiple ways? We use the social cognition literature to develop a model of category activation and inhibition in the hiring process. The model explains how sit...
Using a sample of 232 MBA alumni, we tested the impact of respondent age, gender, and their interaction on career progress outcomes (managerial level, number of promotions, and salary) and whether age- and gender-type of contexts moderated these relationships. Women's salaries did not increase much with age, whereas men's salaries showed a marked i...
Some federal courts have used a reasonable woman standard rather than the traditional reasonable man or reasonable person standard to determine whether hostile environment sexual harassment has occurred. The current research examined the impact of the reasonable woman standard on federal district court decisions, controlling for other factors found...
Some federal courts have used a reasonable woman standard rather than the traditional reasonable man or reasonable person standard to determine whether hostile environment sexual harassment has occurred. The current research examined the impact of the reasonable woman standard on federal district court decisions, controlling for other factors found...
The current study used survey data collected by a top job search web site to explore the extent to which older (50-64 years), middle-aged (40-49 years), and younger (18-39 years) computer programmers reported different levels of human capital (e.g., job tenure) and specialized computer skills (e.g., number of programming languages). In addition, we...
This study explored the effects of judges' personal characteristics (gender, race, age, and political affiliation) and case characteristics on the outcomes of federal cases of hostile environment sexual harassment. Results revealed that even after controlling for the effects of relevant case characteristics (e.g., severity of the harassment), judge...
This chapter critically reviews the direction of research on performance appraisal and multi-source feedback systems. In view of the increasing internationalization of work, it offers a detailed analysis of appraisal from a cross-cultural perspective. Two dimensions--power distance and individualism/collectivism--are discussed in terms of their inf...
This research explored ironic evaluation processes initiated by suppression instructions conveyed during diversity training. Raters watched one of three training videos: a video providing information about age diversity and recommending that they try to suppress age-related thoughts; a video providing information about age, sex, race, and ethnic di...
The current study explored the extent to which college graduates with and without physical disabilities reported experiencing discrimination in their overall work histories. Resufts suggested that respondents with disabilities reported experiencing significantly more access discrimination than respondents without disabilities and that the specific...
Relational demography research has emphasized a similarity–attraction paradigm in explaining employees' reactions to demographic differences from other organizational members. This study examined similarity–attraction (nondirectional age differences) and status incongruence (directional age differences) predictions of age difference effects. The no...
We propose that organizational factors (structure, values, and technology) influence raters' decision making processes which, in turn, can result in age discrimination in employment-related decisions. Specifically, organizational factors may influence (a) the extent to which jobs become age-typed, (b) the extent to which a worker's age is salient a...
Participants evaluated hypothetical applicants recruited from a younger (university students) or older (American Association of Retired Persons) population for 2 young-typed jobs, one more strongly young-typed than the other. Participants were given applicant information, including age and personal characteristics, that varied in the extent to whic...
Little research has investigated the effectiveness of sexual harassment awareness training videos on potential harassers' knowledge, behavior, or attitudes. A laboratory study was conducted that assessed the effects of a sexual harassment awareness training video on several training outcomes: sexual harassment knowledge, touching behavior, and atti...
This research explored the propensity ofpredominantly white male and female college students toengage in severe forms of sexual harassment. Inaddition, this research assessed the extent to whichmales' and females' intentions to harass are based onsimilar aspects of harassment situations. Resultsindicated that males had significantly higherpropensit...
This research used a scenario study and survey data to examine the effects of 3 factors (position power, personal power, and organizational efficacy) on responses to sexual harassment. Results of the scenario study revealed that the position power and personal power of the victim and the efficacy with which the organization dealt with previous inci...
A field study of MBA students enrolled in a microcomputer software training class was conducted. Trainees' expectations of the extent to which the training would be like work and play were collected prior to the training and their perceptions of the extent to which the training was like work and play were collected after the training. In addition,...
The researchers explored personal and contextual factors that inhibit or facilitate the use of older worker stereotypes in a selection context. The authors suggest that older worker stereotypes are more likely to be used and influence applicant evaluations when raters are biased against older workers, when raters do not have the cognitive resources...
The researchers explored personal and contextual factors that inhibit or facilitate the use of older worker stereotypes in a selection context. The authors suggest that older worker stereotypes are more likely to be used and influence applicant evaluations when raters are biased against older workers, when raters do not have the cognitive resources...
In this article we integrate contextual and cognitive explanations for gender-based selection in the workplace; we also consider the implications of this integration for understanding gender segregation. We argue that decision makers' propensity to use applicant gender as a basis for hiring and promotion decisions varies systematically across organ...
This research uses a prototype matching approach to understand how job applicant evaluations are made and the role that applicant gender and age play in these evaluations. It is hypothesized that raters represent information about jobs and jobholders in person-in-job prototypes. Raters evaluate applicants by matching information about applicants to...
Traditional information processing models (e.g., Greenwald, 1968) have often assumed that perceivers process information in an effortful, systematic fashion. Several authors (Chaiken, 1987; Fiske & Neuberg, 1990; Petty & Cacioppo, 1979) have suggested, however, that in many contexts (e.g., when individuals have low motivation or limited cognitive r...