Extending the Queen Bee Effect: How Hindustani Workers Cope with Disadvantage by Distancing the Self from the Group

Abstract

Previous research revealed that members of minority groups sometimes strategically distance themselves from their group by communicating negative views of this group, describing themselves according to outgroup stereotypes and supporting the illegitimate status hierarchy. Drawing upon recent work on the Queen Bee phenomenon among women in the workplace, we explain this ‘self-group distancing’ as a coping response of low identified minority employees who experience social identity threat. Whereas queen bee behavior is often discussed as a response typical for women, new experimental data are presented revealing similar responses among ethnic minority employees. In parallel to queen bees, low identified Hindustanis reported less positive ingroup affect and presented themselves as more stereotypically Dutch when reminded of ethnic bias - but not in a control condition. This suggests that the Queen Bee phenomenon exemplifies a more generic individual mobility response to social identity threat experienced by minority groups at work.