The present research examines why organizations with more unequal pay structures have been found to be characterized by a range of negative workplace outcomes. Drawing on the social identity approach, we propose that higher pay disparity can increase the comparative fit of pay categories whereby the organizational “haves” (the highest paid employees) and “have nots” (the lowest paid employees) are more likely to be categorized into distinct social groups. In turn, this can lead to poorer organizational functioning. In two studies, a field survey (N = 413) and an experiment (N = 286), we found that higher pay inequality increased the comparative fit of pay categories, which, in turn, was associated with lower superordinate (organizational) identification, higher perceived workplace conflict, higher leader toxicity, and lower perceptions of identity leadership (i.e., a leader who creates a sense of shared identity in the organization). Our research provides novel insights into how higher inequality affects employees’ categorization processes, thereby creating a psychological divide and contributing to organizational dysfunction.

本研究探讨了为什么发现具有更多不平等薪酬结构的组织具有一系列负面的工作场所结果。利用社会认同方法，我们提出更高的薪酬差距可以增加薪酬类别的比较匹配度，从而组织“有”（薪酬最高的员工）和“没有”（薪酬最低的员工）更有可能被归类分成不同的社会群体。反过来，这可能会导致组织功能变差。在两项研究中，实地调查（N = 413）和实验（N= 286），我们发现更高的薪酬不平等增加了薪酬类别的比较契合度，这反过来又与较低的上级（组织）认同、较高的工作场所冲突感知、较高的领导毒性和较低的认同领导感知相关（即，一个在组织中创造共同认同感的领导者）。我们的研究为更高的不平等如何影响员工的分类过程提供了新的见解，从而造成心理鸿沟并导致组织功能障碍。