Research Article Constructed Criteria Redefining Merit to Justify Discrimination

ABSTRACT—This article presents an account of job dis-crimination according to which people redefine merit in a manner congenial to the idiosyncratic credentials of in-dividual applicants from desired groups. In three studies, participants assigned male and female applicants to gen-der-stereotypical jobs. However, they did not view male and female applicants as having different strengths and weaknesses. Instead, they redefined the criteria for suc-cess at the job as requiring the specific credentials that a candidate of the desired gender happened to have. Com-mitment to hiring criteria prior to disclosure of the appli-cant’s gender eliminated discrimination, suggesting that bias in the construction of hiring criteria plays a causal role in discrimination. For traditionally male jobs, such as manager or corporate leader, women are less likely to be hired than men. They are also paid less, given less authority, and promoted less often (Bierna