Psychological disengagement as a silent response to perceived (present and future) sex-based disadvantage among female office workers

Abstract

Introduction Reactions to perceived disadvantage can be of the silent type: individuals may psychologically disengage their self-esteem from a domain such as work, by discounting the feedback received and devaluing the domain. Objectives The first goal of this study was to evaluate whether feelings of relative deprivation based on temporal and social comparisons are differently associated with psychological disengagement mechanisms. The second goal was to shed light on the role played by the social standing of one's occupation and the status of one's group in the profession (minority or majority group) in the link between disengagement mechanisms and self-esteem. Method Survey data from female office workers ( n = 154) were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Results Results suggest that the associated outcomes of relative deprivation do not differ according to the type of comparisons (social or temporal). Moreover, they highlight the importance of the social standing of a profession in the link between disengagement mechanism and self-esteem. In this sample, discounting was shown to bruise one's self-view. Conclusion Theoretical contributions and limitations are discussed. Finally, some practical implications are presented.