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BRIEF REPORT
How Racial/Ethnic Bullying Affects Rejection Sensitivity:
The Role of Social Dominance Orientation
Ivan H. C. Wu
Michigan State University Brent Lyons
Simon Fraser University
Frederick T. L. Leong
Michigan State University
The authors built upon models of workplace bullying to examine how racial/ethnic bullying can lead to
racial/ethnic minorities’ sensitivity to future discrimination via its effects on race/ethnic-related stress.
With a sample of racial/ethnic minorities, they found support for this process. Individual differences in
social dominance orientation (SDO) also attenuated the mediation: The indirect effect of race/ethnic-
related stress was weaker for minorities who endorse hierarchy legitimizing ideologies (high in SDO)
compared to minorities low in SDO. Practical implications for the management of minority employees’
experiences of discrimination are discussed.
Keywords: discrimination, race-related stress, rejection sensitivity, social dominance, workplace bullying
The pervasive and negative effects of workplace bullying have
been well-documented (e.g., Hoel, Einarsen, & Cooper, 2003;
Leymann, 1996). However, relatively little research has examined
the effects of workplace bullying directed toward racial/ethnic
minorities (REM). This is surprising in light of evidence suggest-
ing that REM are disproportionately targeted by racial/ethnic bul-
lying in the U.S. workplace and that experiencing racial/ethnic
bullying is associated with detriments to minorities’ health, well-
being, and work performance (Buchanan, Bergman, Bruce,
Woods, & Lichty, 2009;Fox & Stallworth, 2005;Lewis & Gunn,
2007). Experiencing racial/ethnic bullying may also further sensitize
minorities’ to perceiving future discrimination.
Indeed, research has alluded to how past exposure to discrimi-
nation can sensitize minorities to future racial/ethnic victimization
(Barrett & Swim, 1998;Ilgen & Youtz, 1986;Major et al., 2002).
Research has also demonstrated that exposure to discrimination is
related to heightened anxiety in response to ambiguous interper-
sonal events (Bennett, Merrit, Edwards, & Sollers, 2004;Greer,
Vendemia, & Stancil, 2012), which is subsequently related to
negative mental and health outcomes (Ashburn-Nardo, Monteith,
Arthur, & Bain, 2007; Henson, Derlega, Pearson, Ferrer, & Hol-
mes, 2013). However, to date, researchers have not empirically
examined mechanisms that can explain the development of race/
ethnic-based rejection sensitivity, which is defined as the height-
ened propensity to perceive ambiguous events in the environment
as threatening to one’s race/ethnicity (Downey & Feldman, 1996;
Mendoza-Denton et al., 2002). An examination of such a mecha-
nism is the focus of the current study.
Extant research examining how exposure to discrimination af-
fects sensitivity to future discrimination has tended to examine
single incidents of discrimination in lab studies and/or general
experiences of discrimination (e.g., Major et al., 2002) without
considering the pernicious effects of racial/ethnic bullying. Racial/
ethnic bullying is a form of discrimination, but it specifically
involves repeated instances of negative racial/ethnic-based acts
(Einarsen, 1999;Fox & Stallworth, 2005) that lead to a widening
power differential between the perpetrator and victim as the bul-
lying continues over time (Hershcovis, 2011). The severe and
overbearing effects of bullying can leave victims feeling anxious
and helpless, leading them to constantly worry about further vic-
timization (Einarsen, 1999). In the current study we build on
models of workplace bullying (Einarsen, 2011) and work stress
(Pratt & Barling, 1988) to examine a process of how stress
uniquely experienced by REM (i.e., racial/ethnic-based stress;
Harrell, 2000) can explain how racial/ethnic bullying affects race/
ethnic-related rejection sensitivity
In addition, we also examine how individual differences in
beliefs that legitimize the prevailing status hierarchy—social dom-
inance orientation (SDO; Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle.,
1994)—affect minorities’ stress and rejection-sensitivity responses
to racial/ethnic bullying. Previous research has indicated that
members of low status groups (e.g., women, REM) who endorse
status-legitimizing beliefs are less likely to make attributions of
discrimination compared to those who do not endorse status-
This article was published Online First October 13, 2014.
Ivan H. C. Wu, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University;
Brent Lyons, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University; Fred-
erick T. L. Leong, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ivan
H. C. Wu, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316
Physics Rd-Rm 26, East Lansing, MI 48824. E-mail: wuivan@msu.edu
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Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology © 2014 American Psychological Association
2015, Vol. 21, No. 1, 156–161 1099-9809/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037930
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