Ethnocentrism and Internal Compensation Structuring: An Experimental Examination of Point Factor Job Evaluation

“Comparable Worth” represents the concept that men, women, minorities, and whites should receive equal pay for work of equal value from their employer. Much research and many articles have been written in regards to overall pay inequities between men and women; however information regarding internal compensation strategies and perceived labor pools (percentage of minority applicants) has not been explored in depth. A total of 381 individuals participated in an experimental study that manipulated perceived labor market composition in order to establish the relative impact of ethnocentrism on the evaluation of compensable factors and salary. Results strongly supported the authors’ hypotheses, indicating that (a) significant discriminatory weighing of compensable factors by the perceived ethnicity and gender of labor pools occurs, (b) individual participant demographics (ethnicity and gender) contribute significantly to discrimination between perceived labor pools, and (c) participant individual differences significantly contribute to discriminatory weighting. Implications and directions for future research are considered.