Workplace racial/ethnic similarity, job satisfaction, and lumbar back health among warehouse workers: Asymmetric reactions across racial/ethnic groups

• Published in: Journal of organizational behavior Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. 172 - 193
• Main Authors: Hoppe, Annekatrin, Fujishiro, Kaori, Heaney, Catherine A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2014; Wiley (Variant); Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: asymmetric reactions; diversity; Employee attitude; Employees; Health; Job satisfaction; Latin American people; Minority & ethnic groups; Occupational health; Organizational behavior; Racial differences; relational demography; Research Article; Studies; Warehouses; Workplaces; United States > US
• ISSN: 0894-3796; 1099-1379
• DOI: 10.1002/job.1860

Racial and ethnic minority employees constitute a significant proportion of the U.S. workforce. The literature on demographic similarity in the workplace suggests that the proportion of co-workers who share the same racial/ethnic background (racial/ethnic similarity) can influence job attitudes and employee well-being and that the reactions to racial/ethnic similarity may differ between the racially dominant and subordinate groups. This study applies status construction theory to examine the extent to which racial/ethnic similarity is associated with job satisfaction and lumbar back health among warehouse employees. We surveyed 361 warehouse workers (204 whites, 94 African-Americans, and 63 Latino workers) in 68 jobs in nine distribution centers in the United States. Multilevel analyses indicate that white and racial/ethnic minority groups react differently to racial/ethnic similarity. For job satisfaction, white employees experience higher job satisfaction when they are highly racially/ethnically similar to their colleagues, whereas Latino employees experience higher job satisfaction when they are racially/ethnically dissimilar to others. As for lumbar back health, among Latino and African-American employees, higher racial/ethnic similarity is associated with better lumbar back health whereas for white employees, the association is the opposite. Across all groups, moderate levels of racial/ethnic similarity were associated with the best lumbar back health.