Constructed criteria: redefining merit to justify discrimination

This article presents an account of job discrimination according to which people redefine merit in a manner congenial to the idiosyncratic credentials of individual applicants from desired groups. In three studies, participants assigned male and female applicants to gender-stereotypical jobs. However, they did not view male and female applicants as having different strengths and weaknesses. Instead, they redefined the criteria for success at the job as requiring the specific credentials that a candidate of the desired gender happened to have. Commitment to hiring criteria prior to disclosure of the applicant's gender eliminated discrimination, suggesting that bias in the construction of hiring criteria plays a causal role in discrimination.     

Double Jeopardy Upon Resumé Screening: When Achmed Is Less Employable Than Aïsha

Applicants belong to multiple categories (e.g., male, ethnic minority) and a complex set of factors affects category activation and inhibition when making hiring decisions. Two field experiments with recruiters who regularly engage in resumé screening showed that the role of multiple categories (applicants’ ethnicity and sex) in discrimination depended on job type and prejudice. Specifically, in both low‐ and high‐demand (i.e., complex) jobs, Arab women were rated more favorably than Arab men, particularly when considering levels of client contact. Across both studies, recruiters high in explicit ethnic prejudice were discriminatory only when applicants’ job qualifications fit the job position less, lending support for the attributional‐ambiguity effect. Implicit attitudes did not play a strong role. Our study findings point to the complex nature of multiple categorization effects in the hiring process. Implications are considered as to how to avert hiring discrimination during resumé screening.     

Smiling when distressed: when a smile is a frown turned upside down

This research tested self-regulation and self-presentation as psychological mechanisms that motivate smiling when distressed. In Study 1, participants viewed moderately and intensely distressing, amusing, and neutral videos in social or nonsocial conditions. Smiling when distressed was most prevalent in conditions in which participants reported the greatest emotional distress. Specifically, while viewing distressing videos, men reported experiencing greater overall distress and also smiled more than women, especially in social conditions and while viewing intensely (as opposed to moderately) distressing stimuli. In general, smiling was related to more negative affect while viewing distressing videos but to more positive affect after viewing such stimuli. Study 2 explored raters' social perceptions of participants from Study 1, confirming that people judge distressed smilers as less socially appropriate and less likable than nonsmilers. Findings suggest that although distressed smiling serves a probable self-regulatory function, it may also bear some negative social consequences.     

Smiling and self‐presentation of men and women for job photographs

The present research studied the factors that influence the smiling behaviour of men and women. We assumed that men and women who actively engage in self‐presentation use smiling as a strategy to take advantage of the expectations of others in order to realize their own goals. In the research situation, the participants imagined that they wanted to obtain a certain part‐time job. We expected that gender‐role expectations, the gender‐typing and status of the job in question, and the importance of social contacts for carrying out the job would influence the extent to which men and women would smile for a photo to be sent with a job application. The results partly support this expectation: men and women smiled more in response to a low‐status job than to a high‐status job; women smiled more in response to a job in which social contacts are important than to a job in which social contacts are unimportant; and women smiled more than men in response to a feminine low‐status job in which social contacts are important. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rose colored webcam: Discrepancies in personality estimates and interview performance ratings

Companies increasingly use computer-controlled interviews as a less expensive and more efficient way to screen job applicants. Despite these advantages, this interview format may prevent evaluators from accurately judging an applicant’s personality traits, which, in turn, may influence hiring decisions. Two traits in particular, agreeableness and conscientiousness, have been found to predict performance in many occupational settings. In the current research, participants randomly were assigned to either a face-to-face (FTF) or computer-controlled (CC) mock job interview. Interviewees were rated by external observers as higher in conscientiousness and agreeableness when the interview was CC rather than FTF. In addition, observers rated interview performance more positively than did the interviewees themselves – particularly when the interview was CC. Finally, the discrepancy between self and observer judgments of the interviewees’ personality (in terms of agreeableness and conscientiousness) mediated the relation between interview format and the discrepancy between self and observer ratings of interview performance. These findings suggest that CC interviews have the potential to yield overly positive evaluations of interviewees, thereby biasing personality judgments and estimations of ultimate job performance.     

Can Being Gay Provide a Boost in the Hiring Process? Maybe If the Boss is Female

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether men and women differentially prefer hiring gay and lesbian job applicants relative to equally qualified heterosexual job applicants.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from two samples of non-student participants. Each participant evaluated the perceived hirability of an ostensibly real job applicant by reviewing the applicant’s resume. In reality, all participants were randomly assigned to evaluate the same fictitious resume that differed only in the gender and sexual orientation of the applicant.

Findings

We find that men perceived gay and lesbian job applicants as less hirable, while women perceived gay and lesbian job applicants as more hirable than heterosexual job applicants. Additionally, we show perceptions of hirability are mediated by perceptions of gay and lesbian job applicants’ competence.

Implications

These results show that bias against gays and lesbians is much more nuanced than previous work suggests. One implication is that placing more women in selection roles within organizations could be a catalyst for the inclusion of gay and lesbian employees. Additionally, these results could influence when and how gays and lesbians disclose their gay identities at work.

Originality/Value

These studies are the first to identify a positive bias in favor of gay and lesbian job applicants. As attitudes toward gays and lesbians become more positive, results like these are important to document as they signal a shift in intergroup relations. These results will also help managers and organizations design selection processes to minimize bias toward applicants.

     

The Impact of Job Applicants' Facial Maturity, Gender, and Academic Achievement on Hiring Recommendations

Two studies investigated the impact of job applicants' facial maturity, gender, and achievement level on hiring recommendations. The results revealed that discrimination based on gender and facial appearance varies with the type of job for which an applicant is being considered. Applicants who were babyfaced or female were favored for jobs requiring qualities of warmth and submission, whereas those who were maturefaced or male were favored for jobs requiring qualities of shrewdness and leadership. These hiring preferences were most pronounced for high achieving applicants. They were also paralleled by stereotypical perceptions of the job- relevant attributes possessed by the applicants, which suggests that the effects of applicants' gender and facial maturity are mediated by the perceived fit between their assumed attributes and the job requirements. Finally, the jobs for which male and maturefaced applicants were favored were those for which high-achieving applicants were also favored, which suggests that female and babyfaced applicants are most apt to be discriminated against when applying for higher status jobs.     

Sexism and beautyism effects in selection as a function of self-monitoring level of decision maker

The authors, in two experiments, investigated the influence of the sex and attractiveness of applicants for male and female sex-typed jobs on selection decisions made by low and high self-monitors. In both experiments, attractiveness and the congruence between applicants' sex and the sex type of the job influenced selection decisions. In addition, high self-monitors were more influenced by attractiveness and sex of the applicant when hiring for sex-typed jobs than low self-monitors, but this difference in hiring pattern was not evident when the job was gender neutral. Results indicate that job applicants may encounter different employment opportunities as a function of their sex, their physical attractiveness, the sex type of the job, and the self-monitoring level of the decision maker. Implications of results are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.     

When Is Dominance Related to Smiling? Assigned Dominance, Dominance Preference, Trait Dominance, and Gender as Moderators

We investigated gender and different types of dominance measures as potential moderators of the relation between dominance and smiling. We asked participants about their preference for either a dominant or a subordinate role (dominance preference), randomly assigned one of these roles to them (assigned dominance), and assessed trait dominance, felt dominance, and perceived dominance. Participants had two 8-min dyadic interactions in same-gender groups (33 all-women dyads, 36 all-men dyads), in which one was assigned to be the owner of an art gallery and the other was assigned to be the assistant to the owner. Interactions were videotaped, and smiling and perceived dominance were assessed on the basis of the videotapes. Both the particular dominance measure and gender moderated the relation between dominance and smiling. Results showed that for women in subordinate positions, those who wanted to be in a subordinate position smiled more than those who wanted to be in a dominant position. No such effect occurred for men and for participants in assigned dominant positions.     

Are Adewale and Ngochi more employable than Jamal and Lakeisha? The influence of nationality and ethnicity cues on employment-related evaluations of Blacks in the United States

ABSTRACT

Previous research has consistently shown that racial bias can influence employers’ perceptions and evaluations of Black individuals in hiring and promotion decisions. However, within-race differences (e.g., skin tone, Afrocentric features) can lead to variation in these decisions. In addition to phenotypical variation, ethnicity cues (e.g., perceived country of origin, name) may be important within-race factors influencing the perception and evaluations of Black job applicants. Using a resume evaluation paradigm, participants evaluated one of three resumes in which the target applicant’s name provided cues about ethnicity (either Black American, Black African, or White American). Results suggest that Black Americans may experience more discrimination in hiring and are generally perceived less positively across several employment-related domains than both White and Black African applicants. Specifically, we find that Black Americans are less likely to be selected for an interview or offered a job and are evaluated more negatively overall relative to Black Africans.     

Employment Qualifications,Person–Job Fit,Underemployment Attributions,and Hiring Recommendations: A three‐study investigation

Using an experimental design across three studies and four samples, we investigated the effects of employment qualification level (i.e., underqualified, adequately qualified, or overqualified) on hiring recommendations, and how the relationship was influenced by person–job (P‐J) fit and underemployment attributions. In Study 1, we tested and found support for the strength and effectiveness of the employment qualification level manipulation. In Study 2, the results demonstrated that overqualified applicants received higher ratings on objective P‐J fit, subjective P‐J fit, and hiring recommendations than underqualified applicants. Also, overqualified applicants were rated higher on objective and subjective P‐J fit than adequately qualified applicants. However, the results indicated no significant differences between adequately qualified and overqualified applicants on hiring recommendations. Finally, P‐J fit was found to fully mediate the employment qualification level–hiring recommendation relationship, but only subjective P‐J fit (i.e., and not objective P‐J fit) was a significant mediator. In Study 3, we assessed the potential effects of underemployment attribution (i.e., internal‐controllable vs. external‐uncontrollable) on interviewer hiring recommendation. Results demonstrated that applicants who made an external‐uncontrollable attribution for their overqualification were perceived negatively and received lower ratings on hiring recommendations than applicants who made an internal‐controllable attribution for their underemployment. Furthermore, the underemployment attribution‐hiring recommendation relationship was found to be fully mediated by subjective (but not objective) P‐J fit. Contributions of these results to theory, research, and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Age Discrimination in the Evaluation of Job Applicants

This study investigated the nature of age discrimination against older job applicants. One hundred fifty‐six participants (102 students; 54 organization based) evaluated a hypothetical job applicant's (aged 33–66 years) work‐related competences and likelihood of being hired. Applicant age affected hiring decisions for both samples where there was a preference for hiring applicants aged 42–48 years. Applicants at both the older and younger ends of the continuum were less likely to be hired, with the oldest applicants (over 54 years) being the least likely to be hired. Although the applicants' age negatively affected evaluations of their trainability and sociability, the effect of applicant age on hiring evaluations was not mediated by these work‐related competencies, suggesting that age discrimination occurs via direct bias against older workers.     

Implicit and explicit age cues influence the evaluation of job applications

In the hiring process, older job seekers are often at a disadvantage when compared to younger job seekers: They receive less callbacks to applications, less invitations to job interviews, and fewer job offers. This phenomenon has often been demonstrated by varying explicit cues such as the date of birth. Less studied, but also influential are implicit age cues (e.g., age-stereotypic characteristics or activities in applicant profiles). Across a series of three studies, we addressed both forms of age cues in job applications. We explored the influence of explicit age information (20 years or 60 years) and implicit age profiles (age-neutral, young, or old job-relevant characteristics) on hiring decisions in hypothetical scenarios and tested the effect of a short anti-discrimination prompt. Applicants’ age (i.e., the explicit age cue) reduced the hiring likelihood ratings irrespective of implicit age profiles. The implicit age profiles influenced the hypothetical hiring decisions by their age association and by the stereotypical relevance of individual characteristics (e.g., charismatic as an age-neutral characteristic is stereotypically relevant for a leadership position). Applicants with an implicit old profile were less likely hired than applicants with an implicit young profile when the hiring goal was to increase profit and when no particular job status was specified. The anti-discrimination prompt significantly reduced age discrimination. Ageism in the hiring process is not only a matter of explicit age cues, but also of implicit age cues. Raising awareness for ageism and prompting to disregard age could well diminish discriminatory behavior also in real hiring decisions.     

Hiring Discrimination Against Arab Minorities: Interactions Between Prejudice and Job Characteristics

Individuals of Arab descent have increasingly experienced prejudice and employment discrimination. This study used the social identity paradigm to investigate whether greater Arab identification of applicants led to hiring discrimination and whether job characteristics and raters' prejudice moderated this effect. One hundred forty-one American and 153 Dutch participants rated résumés on job suitability. Résumés with Arab name and affiliations negatively influenced job suitability ratings, but only when job cognitive demands and external client contact were limited. Within the Dutch sample job suitability rating of Arab applicants was lowest when Dutch raters' implicit prejudice was high. As expected, no effects of explicit prejudice were found: discrimination may operate in subtle ways, depending on the combined effect of applicant, job, and rater characteristics. Further research and implications for employment-related decision making, such as anonymous résumé-sifting, are discussed.     

Do Applicants Fake Their Personality Questionnaire Responses and How Successful are Their Attempts? A Case of Military Pilot Cadet Selection

This paper presents the results of three interrelated studies investigating the occurrence of response distortion on personality questionnaires within selection and the success of applicants in faking situations. In Study 1, comparison of the Big Five personality scores obtained from applicants in a military pilot cadet selection procedure with participants responding honestly, faking good, and faking an ideal candidate revealed that applicants responded more desirable than participants responding honestly but less desirable than respondents under fake instructions. The occurrence of faking within the military pilot selection process was replicated in Study 2 using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and another comparison group. Finally, in Study 3, comparison of personality profiles obtained in selection and ‘fake job’ situations with experts' estimates indicated that participants were partially successful in faking the desirable profile.     

Will you still hire me when I am over 50? The effects of implicit and explicit age stereotyping on resume evaluations

Multiple studies have found that older workers may be disadvantaged in their job search due to explicit age stereotypes. However, no published research has examined the effect of both explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) negative age stereotypes against older workers on hiring decisions. The current study fills this gap by using an experimental design to simultaneously examine how both explicit and implicit age stereotypes affect the evaluation of resumes for older and younger job applicants. Participants completed measures of explicit age stereotypes via a questionnaire and implicit age stereotypes with an Implicit Association Test focused on older and younger working-age people. They then completed a resume screening task that included younger and older potential applicants. Results showed that participants’ explicit age stereotypes positively influenced the evaluation of younger applicants’ resumes but had no significant effect on the evaluation of older applicants’ resumes. Conversely, implicit age stereotypes had a negative effect on the evaluation of older applicants’ resumes but had no significant effect on the evaluation of younger applicants’ resumes. The results suggest that both implicit and explicit age stereotypes may harm older job applicants’ hireablity, but through different pathways.     

The senior discount: biases against older career changers

This study examined age discrimination in between‐ vs. within‐career job transitions. We expected that older workers transitioning into a new field would experience greater age discrimination than those who change jobs within the same field, particularly when amount of prior job experience is not made salient, and particularly when decision‐makers were highly prejudiced. Results suggested that younger job applicants received higher suitability ratings than older job applicants, and job applicants making a within‐career transition were rated higher than those making a between‐career transition. As hypothesized, older job applicants making between‐career transitions would receive the lowest ratings of suitability for hire when no information regarding experience was presented, and when decision‐makers were highly prejudiced. Implications for the aging workforce are discussed.