Taking a Heavier Toll? Racial Differences in the Effects of Workplace Mistreatment on Depression

Authors

Ji Woon Ryu, Portland State UniversityFollow
Erik Gonzalez-Mulé, Indiana University
Ernest H. O'Boyle, Indiana University

Published In

Journal of Applied Psychology

Document Type

Post-Print

Publication Date

2023

Subjects

Health and race, Racism, Mental health

Abstract

Previous studies have found that workplace mistreatment positively relates to depression, a critical mental health disorder. However, it is unknown whether mistreatment affects all individuals’ depressive symptoms equally. Drawing from the hopelessness theory of depression and the stigma literature, we suggest that Blacks suffer from greater depression than Whites when they experience similar levels of workplace mistreatment because Blacks, as members of a racial minority group, are more likely to attribute workplace mistreatment to their race. This, in turn, causes them to make a pessimistic attribution (i.e., attributions that are internal, stable, and global) about themselves that, ultimately, leads to depression. We tested these predictions across two studies. In Study 1, we used a multiyear time-lagged design and multiple indicators of depression (i.e., self-reported clinical depression scale, device-traced sleep quantity, and self-reported sleep quality) and found that the positive relationship between workplace mistreatment and depression was stronger for Blacks than Whites, and that these patterns were consistent across the various indicators (although only results with the clinical depression scale and sleep quantity were statistically significant). In Study 2, we found that the influence of workplace mistreatment on depression is partly due to racial differences in how workplace mistreatment is attributed. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and directions for future research.

Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001170.supp

Rights

©American Psychological Association, 2023. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/apl0001170

Description

An earlier version of this article was presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Western Academy of Management, Reno, Nevada, March 2023.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001170

DOI

10.1037/apl0001170

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41105

Citation Details

Ryu, J. W., Gonzalez-Mulé, E., & O'Boyle, E. H. (2023). Taking a heavier toll? Racial differences in the effects of workplace mistreatment on depression. Journal of Applied Psychology.