Middle Tennessee State University Using a Measure of Occupational Stereotype to Assess Ingroup-outgroup Bias among Aerospace Specializations Richard G. Moffett III Michael B. Hein Glenn L. Littlepage Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN, USA This research was supported in part by a contract (NNX09AAU52G) from NASA awarded to the Middle Tennessee State University Center for Research on Aviation Training.

Impact of Attitudes in Aerospace Workplace of Today Safe and efficient flight operations require the effective intergroup coordination across multiple aerospace specializations. Substantial evidence exists that attitudes influence flight crew coordination. Gregorich, S.E., Helmreich, R.L., & Wilhelm, J.A. (1990). The structure of cockpit management attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 682-690. Primary measure used to assess such attitudes, especially in CRM training programs, is the CMAQ. O’Connor, P., Campbell, J., Newton, J. Melton, J. Salas, E., & Wilson, K. (2008). Crew resource management training effectiveness: A meta-analysis and some critical needs. International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 18, 353-368. Attitudes not measured by CMAQ may also have a significant impact on workgroup performance.

Occupational Stereotypes Stereotypes: “Socially shared set of cognitions (e.g., beliefs, expectations) about the qualities and characteristics of the members of a particular group or social category.” Forsyth, D.R. (2010). Group dynamics (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Page 426. Stereotypes can be based on occupations. Jemielniak, D. (2007). Managers as lazy, stupid careerists? Contestation and stereotypes among software engineers. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 20, 491-508. Occupational stereotypes might impact performance through the process of ingroup-outgroup bias.

Ingroup-Outgroup Bias Ingroup-outgroup bias is the “tendency to view (one’s own group) and its members more favorably than other groups.” Forsyth, D.R. (2010). Group dynamics (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Page 82. Ingroup-outgroup bias can increase conflict and impact the ability of groups to work effectively. Forsyth, D.R. (2010). Group dynamics (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. When intergroup conflict occurs, “ingroup favoritism is stronger than outgroup rejection.” Forsyth, D.R. (2010). Group dynamics (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Page 423.

Development of a Measure of Stereotypes about Aerospace Specialization Adapted a measure developed by Dumas, Johnson, and Lynch (2002) that measures likeableness of traits. Dumas, J. E., Johnson, M., & Lynch, A. M. (2002). Likableness, familiarity, and frequency of 844 person-descriptive words. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 523-531. Result: “Perceptions of Aerospace Professionals” 139 adjectives (e.g., competent, risk-taking) Choose adjectives that describe persons in three aerospace professions: Dispatch, Maintenance, and Pilot

Hypotheses H1: Pilots will select adjectives with a higher mean likeableness rating to describe pilots than they will to describe maintenance personnel. H2: Pilots will select adjectives with a higher mean likeableness rating to describe pilots than they will to describe dispatch personnel. H3: Dispatchers will select adjectives with a higher mean likeableness rating to describe dispatchers than they will to describe maintenance personnel. H4: Dispatchers will select adjectives with a higher mean likeableness rating to describe dispatchers than they will to describe pilots.

Method Participants: 60 subjects; students from six aerospace specializations 11 subjects identified themselves as Dispatch 28 subjects identified themselves as Pilot Remaining aerospace specializations had too few subjects to be included in the analyses Administration of the questionnaire: “Perceptions of Aerospace Professionals”

Results: Mean likeableness ratings by pilots non-significant

Results: Mean likeableness ratings by dispatchers n.s. p < .05

Discussion Pilots and Dispatchers may have ingroup-outgroup bias towards other aerospace specializations, but it is manifested toward different groups. Pilots exhibit ingroup-outgroup bias towards Maintenance personnel but not Dispatchers who they view very similarly to themselves. Dispatchers exhibit ingroup-outgroup bias towards Pilots but not Maintenance personnel.

Implications and Future Research The flight operations simulation requires face-to-face contact pursuing a goal of safely and efficiently operating the flight operations center. These intergroup opportunities provide the foundation for reducing possible aerospace specialization stereotypes and thus reducing ingroup-outgroup bias. Pettigrew, T.F., & Troop, L.R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751-783.

Measures currently in progress Scenarios Quiz Interdependence Beliefs about groups Communication patterns Teamwork questionnaire Observer ratings

Working towards Canned scenarios (including weather) Greater flexibility for in process decisions Greater robustness to the simulation Employee Onboarding Passengers Financial impact/organizational performance measures Implicit attitude measurement

Contact Michael B. Hein Professor, Department of Psychology and Associate Director Center for Organizational and Human Resource Effectiveness (COHRE) Middle Tennessee State University mhein@mtsu.edu