Expressions of Anti-Black Biases, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intentions in the Full-Service Restaurant Industry

Abstract

Verbal and behavioral manifestations of anti-Black biases have been shown to be quite common in many full-service restaurant establishments. Such explicit expressions of anti-Black biases have been linked with servers’ endorsement of racial stereotypes depicting Black Americans as undesirable customers and their self-reported proclivities to withhold effort from their Black clientele. However, there have been limited efforts to advance our understanding of the broader consequences associated with working in an environment wherein Black customers are observed to be stereotyped, denigrated, and mistreated. In response, this research note presents results from an exploratory study assessing the relationships between observing anti-Black expressions in the workplace, employees’ job satisfaction, and their turnover intentions. In two relatively large and demographically diverse samples of current restaurant workers, observing expressions of anti-Black bias in restaurant workplaces was found to be associated with diminished levels of job satisfaction and greater intentions to quit in the next 6 months. This study adds to the growing list of financial and operational costs that restaurant operators are at risk of incurring as a result of some of their employees expressed anti-Black attitudes and discriminatory actions.