Hierarchy Attenuating Roles In Occupations

Engendered occupations don’t just apply to differences between occupational industries (lawyers vs. accountants vs. teachers), but (more commonly nowadays) apply to different positions within occupations: criminal prosecutor vs public .defender. Or as previously mentioned in Jennifer Pierce’s study, the role and responsibilities of female paralegals vs male paralegals.
Dividing positions within occupations into hierarchy enhancing roles, and hierarchy attenuating roles, Felicia Pratto and Lisa M. Stallworth of Stanford University, along with Jim Sidanius and Bret Siers of the University of California, define hierarchy enhancing roles as “roles that serve the interests of elite or already privileged groups”, and hierarchy attenuating roles
as “roles that serve oppressed groups” (Pratto, et. al., 1997, pg 37). As it pertains to occupation, hierarchy enhancing roles tend to include occupations that are primarily self-serving, or aimed at making the rich, richer, and using social inequality to keep those on top at the top, promoting further social inequality. Hierarchy attenuating roles tend to include occupations that center around helping others, specifically those that are oppressed, or in need, and usually promote social equality. That being said, in society hierarchy enhancing positions statistically tend to earn more, have better benefits, and overall more prestige than positions that fall in the hierarchy attenuating role. Pratto, et. al. found that statistically there is a higher percentage of men to women in hierarchy enhancing positions, and conversely, a higher percentage of women to men in hierarchy attenuating positions, linking them with engendered occupations (Pratto, et. al., 1997, pg 38).
As previously established, research suggests males and females choose different occupations based on values important to them, as affected by traditional gender roles. Exploring further and using the concepts of hierarchy enhancing and attenuating roles, Pratto, et. al., establishes that females statistically share common values of altruism, helping others, and equality for those that are oppressed, and therefore choose jobs that are geared towards these values. These are mainly jobs that fall in the hierarchy attenuating roles. Males, on the other hand, statistically share values of prestige, status, and higher incomes, and therefore tend to choose jobs that are more suited with hierarchy enhancing roles (Pratto, et. al., 1997, pg 38-39). The values mentioned correlate with the values ingrained in a person’s identity as a result of traditional gender role socialization, studied by Susan Witt (1997).
These values have been grouped and applied to a measurable spectrum called social dominance orientation (SDO). People who have higher levels of SDO tend to promote and be in favor of group inequality dynamics. “They favor policies or institutions that promote group dominance, such as the military, capitalism, and the death penalty” (Pratto, et. al., 1997, pg 39). This is because they recognize the system of inequality, and use it to further themselves/their career. Further research shows that males statistically have higher levels of SDO, as do those that work in many hierarchy enhancing roles, like FBI agent, or criminal prosecutor. Females statistically have much lower levels of SDO, due to their altruistic values and strife for equality, and are linked with hierarchy attenuating roles like public defender or social worker.
Pratto, et. al. conducted four tests. The first test results proved that SDO levels were a direct correlation in choosing hierarchy enhancing versus hierarchy attenuating occupations, as well as the expected results that males tended to choose hierarchy enhancing roles while more females chose hierarchy attenuating roles. To further rule out any confounds, Pratto, et. al. conducted Experiment 2, which would test self selection into hierarchy roles. They chose men and women with the same SDO levels and asked them a series of questions relating to job preference. The idea is that if men and women of the same SDO primarily chose differing hierarchy roles, then something besides SDO levels is driving the choice. They wanted to rule out any other outside variables and prove the direct correlation between hierarchy role choice and SDO levels. Results proved that when given the choice, people will choose occupations that are more closely related to their values, in terms of hierarchy enhancing versus hierarchy attenuating roles. However, in the real world, just because people want an occupation or role, does not mean they get hired for these positions.
Experiment 3 takes a look at the other side of job attainment: the hiring process.
Pratto, et. al. wanted to measure to what degree, if at all, the role of gender stereotypes affected the hiring process. Not to measure who got hired more, men or women, but who got selected more for hierarchy enhancing positions, and who got selected more for hierarchy attenuating positions, based on preconceived notions and gender stereotypes that women are better suited for hierarchy attenuating roles, and men are better suited for hierarchy enhancing roles. A study was designed with 4 fictional job applicants: 2 males and two females. One male and one female gave off indications of high levels of SDO, while the other male and other female gave off indications of low levels of SDO. Study participants were asked to hire one of the 4 “applicants” for each job description, where descriptions were created with clear indications of hierarchy enhancing attributes or hierarchy attenuating
attributes.
As expected, the test resulted in the students primarily choosing applicants with higher levels of SDO for the hierarchy enhancing positions, and applicants with implied lower levels of SDO for the hierarchy attenuating positions. Separately, it was found that the students primarily chose males for the hierarchy enhancing positions, and females for the hierarchy attenuating positions, further proving the preconceived notion that males are better suited for hierarchy enhancing positions while females are better suited for hierarchy attenuating roles, despite the fact that there was a male/female equivalent SDO applicant. The study was repeated with participants who are actually involved in job hiring. The results were the same, concluding that the results from Experiment 3 are comparable to what would actually happen in the real world.
Overall through their four experiments, Pratto, Stallworth, Sidanius, & Siers proved that SDO is the contributing factor in choosing hierarchy roles, and that there is a positive correlation between SDO and gender.
Furthermore, society views gender stereotypes as males having higher SDO and females having lower SDO, which directly impacts the hiring process in choosing male versus female applicants for specific job openings within the same occupation. In relation to the gender gap, hierarchy enhancing roles tend to have better pay and benefits, and looked upon with more prestige, while hierarchy attenuating roles see the opposite (Pratto, et al.,
1997).