Employee Voice, Diversity and Physical Attractiveness: Are Employees Perceived as Less Attractive Ignored in the Workplace?

• In Event: 2451 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 4. Exit, Voice and Loyalty

Abstract

This paper makes a unique contribution to the employee voice literature by investigating the effect of employees’ perceived physical attractiveness on the extent to which their voices are “listened to” by management. The paper also estimates the effect of employee race and gender, alongside a possible moderating effect of the gender of the manager. The findings suggest that, with few exceptions, more physically attractive employees are significantly more likely to have their suggestions acted upon by managers than less attractive employees, pointing to a powerful form of workplace discrimination. This finding holds across races, with more attractive white, black, and Asian employees exerting a more impactful voice at work than their less attractive counter-parts. However, no evidence of voice discrimination was found on the basis of gender and race.

Authors

• Andrew R. Timming, University of Western Australia

• Chris Baumann, Macquarie University

• Paul Gollan, Sydney Business School