Deck 11: Sexual Orientation and Work

Question 1

_____ refers to the classification of an individual into male or female based on biological and physical characteristics but _______ refers to the psychological sense of self as a man or woman.

A) sex; gender identity
B) gender identity; sex
C) sex; gender
D) sex; sexual orientation

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Two Spirits people are/were

A) transgender persons.
B) confused about their sexuality.
C) a third and/or fourth gender category.
D) asexual.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In conventional thinking

A) 2
B) 3
C) 5
D) 10

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Nica was born female, takes on traditional female roles, and considers herself female. Nica would be classified as

A) gender-compliant.
B) having a positive gender identity.
C) cisgender.
D) transgender.

Question 5

In the current version of the DSM, homosexuality

A) is a diagnostic category.
B) is diagnostic when it causes conflict or anxiety.
C) is considered a form of gender dysphoria.
D) is not listed as a diagnostic category.

Question 6

What makes sexual orientation different from other types of diversity?

A) No federal-level legal protection exists.
B) It is rarely relevant to the work itself.
C) It is invisible unless disclosed.
D) All of the above

Question 7

Which of the following explains why discrimination may be especially difficult for LGB employees?

A) invisibility of sexual orientation
B) potential for hostile environment even without being "out"
C) lack of a support system
D) all of the above

Question 8

What is one of the major obstacles to working toward anti-discrimination laws for LGB employees?

A) religious beliefs and exemptions
B) lack of support for LGB rights nation-wide
C) homosexuals "in the closet" fighting against their own rights
D) no major obstacles

Question 9

Level of homophobic attitude (homonegativity) has been found to be correlated with

A) sex.
B) endorsing traditional gender roles.
C) knowing someone who is gay or lesbian.
D) all of these.

Question 10

Which of the following is a provision which protects LGB federal employees?

A) DADT
B) 1998 EO by President Clinton
C) Equality Act
D) None of the above

Question 11

What was different about the 1993 DADT, compared to other laws, is that it

A) prevented discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
B) legally required discrimination.
C) addressed the issue of gender identity.
D) successfully opened up military service to LGB individuals.

Question 12

One consequence of DADT was that it

A) created a sense of pride among LGB service members.
B) created an environment in which LGB service members felt safe.
C) became a starting point for later LGB policies.
D) caused difficulty in researching sexual orientation and harassment in the military.

Question 13

Discrimination against gays and lesbians is hard to study because

A) no EEO charge statistics exist on this topic.
B) of difficulty in locating and surveying representative samples of LGB persons.
C) of difficulty in studying the question with field experiments.
D) of all of these reasons.

Question 14

In general, compared to their heterosexual counterparts,

A) lesbian women earn more but gay men earn less.
B) gay men earn more but lesbian women earn less.
C) bisexual persons of either sex earn less.
D) all LGB employees earn less.

Question 15

What are the three strategies for disclosure at work?

A) indirect, direct, and overt
B) avoidance, counterfeiting, and integration
C) avoidance, deflection, and direct confrontation
D) indirect, fake-it-till-you-make-it, and integration

Question 16

Employees are most likely to come out to others at work when

A) the company has EEO policies.
B) they are out to all of their family.
C) the company is high in autonomy support.
D) any or all of these.

Question 17

Vance has been trying not to come out at work. Specifically, he has cultivated an entire heterosexual persona, including referencing a girlfriend who does not exist and actively trying to steer conversation away from anything that could out him as being gay. Vance is engaging in which disclosure strategies?

A) avoidance and integration
B) fake-it-till-you-make-it and deflection
C) denial and deflection
D) avoidance and counterfeiting

Question 18

Courtesy stigma

A) involves behaving in an overly friendly way toward LGB persons.
B) refers to seeking association with a stigmatized person in order to be seen as non-prejudiced.
C) may lead to isolation of LGB persons, even for other gays.
D) all of these.

Question 19

The largest percent of people (37%) are "out" at work to what degree, according to Ragins and Cornwell (2001)?

A) out to none
B) out to some people
C) out to most people
D) out to everyone

Question 20

Layla is often stressed because she is "out" to only a subset of her family, most of her friends, but only a few of her colleagues. Layla is likely experiencing what?

A) sexual identity conflict
B) disclosure backlash
C) interrole conflict
D) indirect discrimination

Question 21

Which of the following situations would be indirect discrimination towards LGB people?

A) A supervisor gives a warning to a bisexual subordinate for kissing a same-sex significant other but does not give warnings to heterosexual subordinates doing the same thing.
B) A lesbian employee is not hired for a job even though she is qualified for it.
C) A non-disclosed gay employee finds out a coworker thinks that all gay people are sexual predators and shouldn't be working at the day care.
D) A bisexual employee is not called back because the female interviewer believed her to be lesbian even though it was not disclosed.

Question 22

Mason has recently decided to come out as bisexual to his work group in the office, with whom he often goes out to the bar on Fridays after work. Afterwards, his work friend Karl starts avoiding him and making excuses not to go to the weekly bar meetups, eventually telling Mason that he believes he should choose the "right path" of heterosexuality. Mason is experiencing what?

A) indirect discrimination
B) hostile environment discrimination
C) disclosure backlash
D) religious backlash

Question 23

What is the "business case" for preventing or correcting discrimination or prejudice toward LGB employees?

A) job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover may be affected by heterosexist environments.
B) allowing LGB employees to do their best work by focusing on the job and not their work interactions.
C) sexual orientation is not a valid predictor of job performance.
D) all of these.

Question 24

How many genders are there? Justify your response.

Question 25

What is gender identity and how does it differ from gender and from sexual orientation?

Question 26

Is sexual orientation discrimination at work legal? Why or why not?

Question 27

Sexual orientation differs from other bases of difference that may lead to workplace discrimination in several ways. List and explain three of the ways in which sexual orientation is "different."

Question 28

What does the term "DADT" mean? What is its legal status? What have been its consequences?

Question 29

Why is it difficult to estimate the level of workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation? Give one example of research that has attempted to measure the level of sexual orientation discrimination.

Question 30

Describe one study that has measured access discrimination and another that has measured treatment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Question 31

Distinguish between three disclosure strategies used by LGB persons and discuss at least one possible consequence of each.

Question 32

What is "courtesy stigma"?

Question 33

Describe one way in which LGB sexual orientation may affect career development.

Question 34

Describe two situations in which a diversity manager may confront issues related to the sexual orientation of LBG employee(s).

Question 35

Explain two economic rationales that support employers' efforts to prevent or reduce harm to employees based on sexual orientation.