Type of affirmative action policy: a determinant of reactions to sex-based preferential selection?

In 3 studies, 150 undergraduates and 75 MBA students, men and women, were exposed to selection policies differing in the degree to which merit and group membership were weighted in selection decisions involving women. Results indicated that in self-views and self-assessments of beneficiaries (Study 1), competence perceptions on the part of others (Study 2), and work-related reactions of nonbeneficiaries (Study 3), many, but not all, negative reactions to sex-based preferential selection were alleviated when the policy made clear that merit considerations were central to the decision-making process. In the absence of information about policy type, participants acted as if merit had not been a factor in preferential selection decisions.