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Dr Courtney von Hippel
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Dr Courtney von Hippel

Qualifications:

BA, PhD (Ohio State University)

Research Activities:

My research focuses on intergroup relations and stereotyping in the workplace. I am interested in the factors that facilitate or inhibit harmonious and effective work environments among people who are members of different groups. To examine these issues I have focused on temporary employees and women in male dominated fields (e.g., law, management). My research on temporary employees has focused primarily on their inter-group relations with regular (or permanent) employees. My research on women in male dominated fields has been concerned with the impact of feeling stereotyped in the workplace. In particular, I have focused on factors that lead to feelings of stereotype threat in the workplace, the different ways that women cope with these feelings, and in the consequences experienced by women who feel stereotype threat at work. I have begun to extend this research to mature-age workers.

Representative Publications:

von Hippel, C., Issa, M., Ma, R., & Stokes, A. (in press). Stereotype Threat: Antecedents and Consequences for Working Women. European Journal of Social Psychology.

Brener, L., von Hippel, W.H., von Hippel, C., Resnick, I., & Treloar, C. (in press). Perceptions of discriminatory treatment by staff as predictors of drug treatment completion: Utility of a mixed methods approach. Drug and Alcohol Review.

Henry, J.D., Bailey, P.E., von Hippel, C., & Lane, A. (in press). Neurocognitive correlates of alexithymia in schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.

Henry, J. D., von Hippel, C., & Shapiro, L. (2010). Stereotype threat exacerbates social skill impairment in schizophrenia. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49, 31-41.

Yeung, N.C. & von Hippel, C. (2008). Stereotype threat increases the likelihood that female drivers in a simulator run over jaywalkers. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40, 667-674.

von Hippel, W., Brener, L., & von Hippel, C. (2008). Implicit prejudice toward injecting drug users predicts job turnover intentions among drug and alcohol nurses. Psychological Science, 19, 7-11.

von Hippel, C. (2006). When people would rather switch than fight: Out-group favoritism among temporary employees. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 9, 533-546.

von Hippel, C., Greenberger, D.G., Heneman, R.L., & Mangum, S. (2006). What factors are driving the growth of the shadow workforce in the U.S.A.: Summary of theory and evidence. To appear in S.E. Gleason (Ed.) The Shadow Workforce, WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

Maher, A., & von Hippel, C. (2005). The influence of inhibitory ability, stimulus screening, perceived privacy and task complexity on employee reactions to open-plan offices. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 219-229.

von Hippel, W., von Hippel, C., Conway, L., Schooler, J., & Radvansky, G.A. (2005). Coping with stereotype threat: Denial as an impression management strategy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 22-35.

Earlier work:

von Hippel, C., Greenberger, D.B., Mangum, S.L., & Heneman, R. (2000). Voluntary and involuntary temporary employees: Predicting satisfaction, commitment, and personal control. R. Hodson (Ed.) Research in the Sociology of Work, 8. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

von Hippel, C., Mangum, S., Greenberger, D., Heneman, R.L., & Skoglind, J. (1997). Temporary employment: Can organizations and employees both win? Academy of Management Executive, 11, 93-104. Reprinted in Svilupp and Organizzazione, March-April, 1998, 49-60.

Heneman, R.L, von Hippel, C., Eskew, D.E., & Greenberger, D.B. (1997). Alternative rewards in unionized environments. ACA Journal, 6, 42-55.

Heneman, R.L., & von Hippel, C. (1997). The assessment of job performance: Focusing attention on context, process, and group issues. In D. Lewin, D.J.B. Mitchell, & M.A. Zaidi (Eds.) Handbook of Human Resource Management, 79-109. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Heneman, R.L., & von Hippel, C. (1995). Balancing group and individual rewards: Rewarding individual contributions to the team. Compensation and Benefits Review. July-August, 63-68. Reprinted in American Compensation Association (1996). Team-based rewards and recognition (ACA Broadcast Series). Scottsdale, AZ: American Compensation Association.

Synopsis:

My research focuses primarily on stereotype threat, or the concern that a negative stereotype is being applied to oneself (e.g., women in maths). This concern, or "extra cognitive burden", has been shown to negatively impact performance on stereotype-relevant tasks. Example honours projects on stereotype threat include: (1) Stereotype threat and communication: In my laboratory we have found that women’s style of communication changes after being primed with the stereotype of a good leader. In particular, our female participants adopted more masculine management styles after stereotype threat. Examining more closely these stylistic changes and how these impact others’ perceptions of communication effectiveness can allow a deeper understanding of women’s reactions to stereotype threat. (2) Rumination and stereotype threat: Given the negative consequences of stereotype threat it is important to uncover factors that lead to enhanced susceptibility to stereotype threat. In a study conducted with female employees, we gathered preliminary evidence that stereotype threat may be exacerbated by rumination. A laboratory study can be designed to examine whether people who ruminate will be most negatively influenced by stereotype threat (because they perseverate on the threat and thus have trouble focusing on the performance task) compared to those who don't ruminate. (3) Antecedents of stereotype threat: Although stereotype threat research typically involves manipulating stereotype threat, it is important to understand what factors naturally contribute to feelings of stereotype threat. For example, in our research we found that female employees who compare themselves with men when thinking about their career experience more stereotype threat than female employees who do not compare themselves with men. A laboratory study can be designed to manipulate social comparison targets to determine what type of comparisons result in feelings of stereotype threat. These project descriptions are provided only as illustrations of the kind of research I do.

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