Job autonomy will set you free: how work design fosters trust and reduces prejudice beyond the workplace

Purpose This study examines how the structure of daily work shapes individuals' broader social attitudes, particularly prejudice. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the 2010 European Social Survey (ESS), we analyze a multinational sample of 12,475 respondents across 27 European countries. Findings We find that when employees experience greater autonomy in their roles, they are more likely to trust others in general and, in turn, exhibit lower levels of prejudice toward marginalized groups. However, this effect is contingent on managerial process visibility and becomes stronger when employees' effort is more difficult for managers to observe. Social implications The results demonstrate that HR practices can meaningfully influence employees' orientations toward the common good, aligning with growing calls for organizations to play a constructive role in addressing societal polarization. Originality/value The findings contribute to the prejudice literature by highlighting the importance of structural work contexts in shaping biased attitudes, to the human resource management (HRM) literature by identifying prejudice reduction as a novel outcome of job design, and to signaling theory by establishing process visibility as a key moderating factor.