Selecting Information on Job Content or Job Context: The Moderating Effect of One's Own Epistemic Authority

The study investigated the effect of self-ascribed epistemic authority (SAEA) on proclivity to choose information either about job content or about job context. Subjects expressed their attitudes toward a job offer on the basis of information either about job content alone or about job content and job context. It was found that in the process of evaluating a job offer, people with different levels of SAEA tended to focus on different kinds of information-job-content or job-context characteristics. The higher the SAEA, the greater was the effect of job-content characteristics on their evaluation of the job offer. By contrast, when the job-content characteristics were supplemented with attractive job-context characteristics, the relationship between SAEA and job-offer evaluation was low and insignificant. Subjects low on SAEA had relatively low preference for using job-content characteristics as criteria for job-offer evaluation.     

Gender and Sex as Determinants of Hireability of Applicants for Gender-Typed Jobs

The effects of gender and sex of applicants for gender-typed jobs were investigated in the context of a simulation of a post-interview decision. Student subjects (N=102) rated eight applicants for one of three gender-typed jobs. Results indicated that, in general, masculine applicants (of both sexes) were preferred over androgynous applicants who were preferred over feminine applicants. For the neutral job, androgynous applicants were preferred over masculine applicants who were preferred over feminine applicants. Male and female students did not differ in their ratings of the applicants. The results were interpreted as indicating raters' preference for masculine characteristics in any job applicant.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL FIELD STUDY OF INTERPERSONAL DISCRIMINATION TOWARD MUSLIM JOB APPLICANTS

Integrating justification-suppression and stereotype content models of prejudice, this research examines religious discrimination in employment settings. In the first study, confederates dressed in either Muslim-identified or nonreligious attire, who either did or did not provide stereotype-inconsistent information, applied for retail jobs. No differences emerged with regard to interview offers between job applicants dressed in traditional Muslim attire and those in the control condition. However, interactions were shorter and rated (by confederates, observers, and naïve coders) as more interpersonally negative when applicants wore Muslim attire and did not provide stereotype-inconsistent information than when applicants wore nonreligious attire. Similarly, results from a second experimental study in which participants rated fictitious Muslim or non-Muslim job applicants suggest that reactions were most negative toward Muslim applicants who did not provide stereotype-inconsistent information. Together, these findings suggest that justification-suppression and stereotype content models are complementary, and that Muslims may face challenges to employment that reflect a lack of acceptance of this religious identity.     

Profiling: The Efficacy of Using Social Networking Sites for Job Screening

Social networking sites (SNS) are a rich source of extractive information about job applicants. Human resources (HR) professionals now use SNS to gather additional information about job applicants; consequently, job applicants begin interviewing even before the actual interview. The authors examine SNS in the context of hiring decisions, using uncertainty reduction theory as a framework of analysis to explain how individuals obtain and process information about interpersonal relationships to reduce uncertainty before a face‐to‐face meeting. The authors recommend mandatory training for HR professionals, recruiters, and applicants in the strategic use and placement of SNS profiles in the public domain.     

Self-concept and attraction for similar and dissimilar others.

The present study investigated the role of self-concept as a moderator of the similarity-attraction relationship described by Byrne. Subjects conducted face-to-face interviews with confederates who played roles as job applicants. Similarity-dissimilarity was manipulated by the confederate roles as well as by the information given the subjects in accordance with the procedures described by Byrne. The hypothesis was tested and confirmed that persons with favorable self-concepts would be more attracted to others with similar attitudes than to others with dissimilar attitudes. Persons with negative self-concepts did not show a preference for similar others. It was suggested that earlier studies in this area suffered from methodological flaws and did not constitute an adequate test of the hypothesis. Suggestions for future work in the area were given.     

A Prototype Matching Approach to Understanding the Role of Applicant Gender and Age in the Evaluation of Job Applicants1

This research uses a prototype matching approach to understand how job applicant evaluations are made and the role that applicant gender and age play in these evaluations. It is hypothesized that raters represent information about jobs and jobholders in person-in-job prototypes. Raters evaluate applicants by matching information about applicants to the person-in-job prototype associated with the job for which the applicant is applying. Person-in-job prototypes are comprised of features that are more (i.e., central) or less (i.e., peripheral) strongly associated with the prototype. Three laboratory studies examined several hypotheses derived from a prototype matching approach. Results indicated that applicants who matched on more central features were evaluated more favorably than applicants who matched on fewer central features of person-in-job prototypes. In addition, applicants who matched on age were evaluated more favorably than applicants who did not match on age when age was a central but not a peripheral feature of a person-in-job prototype. However, applicants who matched on gender were not evaluated differently from applicants who did not match on gender when gender was a central or a peripheral feature of a person-in-job prototype. Finally, there was some evidence that raters used applicant gender in a complex manner when evaluating applicants. Implications for theory and research on bias in selection are discussed.     

Contextual Influences on Omission Neglect in the Fault Tree Paradigm

Fault trees are used to organize potential causes of a problem to facilitate better judgments about potential problem solutions. However, fault trees can lead to biased judgments because decision makers tend to overestimate the likelihood of problem causes that are explicitly mentioned in the fault tree and underestimate the likelihood of problem causes that are not. In this research, we examined the impact of context information and need for cognitive closure on these estimates. In 2 experiments, participants with a low need for cognitive closure used the informational content of experimenter provided and self‐generated context information as a basis for making likelihood estimates. In contrast, participants with a high need for closure did not use experimenter provided context information at all but used the ease of producing self‐generated context information (rather than informational content) as a basis for their likelihood estimates.     

At the doorstep to employment: Discrimination against immigrants as a function of applicant ethnicity,job type,and raters' prejudice

This study examined the impact of applicant ethnicity, job type, and prejudice on evaluation biases and intentions to interview in an experimental simulation. We suggest that bias and discrimination are more likely when foreign applicants who belong to disliked ethnic groups apply for jobs that require high interpersonal skills, and when raters are prejudiced against immigrants. Subjects were Swiss university students who evaluated Swiss, Spanish, and Kosovo Albanian fictitious applicants. Foreign applicants were second‐generation immigrants, i.e., Swiss‐born descendants of immigrants. Thus, all applicants had similar schooling and language proficiencies but differed with respect to ethnicity. As predicted, discrimination was only observed for members of the disliked ethnic group (Kosovo Albanian) and not for members of the well‐accepted group (Spanish). Moreover, this discrimination was only apparent when applying for a job requiring high interpersonal skills and not when applying for a job requiring high technical skills. Symbolic prejudice towards second‐generation immigrants interacted with applicant ethnicity and job type to affect evaluations of foreign applicants: Persons high in symbolic prejudice devalued foreign applicants belonging to the disliked group but only when applying for a job requiring high interpersonal skills. Overt prejudice was unrelated to evaluations and intentions to interview. These results suggest that discrimination against immigrants is highly specific, targeting only members of certain ethnic groups who apply for certain types of jobs. Moreover, evaluation biases may be more apparent in raters who are prejudiced. Thus, our results support the notion that discrimination for employment results from a complex interaction between characteristics of the applicant, the job, and the rater.     

Unfairness begets unfairness: Victim derogation bias in employee ratings

This research investigated criterion contamination in human resource evaluations, specifically victim derogation in which third parties (e.g., managers, co-workers) systematically undervalue the performance and potential of individuals who have previously suffered organizational injustices. A policy capturing design (Study 1) found that managers rated job applicants who had been treated unfairly by their previous employers as less suitable than fairly treated applicants, after objective performance information was controlled. In Study 2, the effect of unfair treatment on job applicant ratings was found to be moderated by managers’ just world beliefs, with applicant ratings reflecting more derogation among managers with higher (vs. lower) Belief in a Just World. In Study 3, the pattern of results from Study 2 was replicated in a performance evaluation context using peers as raters. Moreover, in Study 3 an intervention that activated raters’ moral identity was found to attenuate victim derogation bias.     

信息完整性与应聘者数量对不同认知闭合需要者招聘决策的影响

结合问卷和信息板技术,探讨了信息完整性和应聘者数量对不同认知闭合需要个体招聘决策过程发挥的潜在影响。结果显示：（1）高认知闭合需要招聘者平均决策时间更短,探索深度更浅,信息了解的更少;（2）信息完整条件下,招聘者平均决策时间更短,探索深度更浅;信息不完整条件下,低认知闭合需要招聘者的平均搜索时间增幅较大;（3）随着应聘者人数的增加,招聘者平均决策时间变长,低认知闭合需要招聘者平均搜索时间增幅较大,且两者探索模式都趋于属性加工。这意味着信息完整性与应聘者数量对不同认知闭合需要招聘者的决策影响不同,应注意培训招聘者的决策能力,提高员工招聘质量。     

风险偏好、信息完整性对职业决策信息加工的影响

本研究旨在探讨个体风险偏好如何影响信息加工过程;同时呈现信息的完整性是否影响个体信息加工过程。以31名正在求职的大学生为被试,探讨了他们在信息板上进行职业决策的信息加工过程。结果显示：(1) 低风险偏好者比高风险偏好者更关注与概率相关的线索;(2) 当信息不完整时,个体在决策中增加了对概率相关线索的关注;(3) 信息完整性对个体决策信息加工过程并未产生显著的影响。     

The Employment Interview: The Role of Sex Stereotypes in the Evaluation of Male and Female Job Applicants in the Netherlands1

This field study focused on the influence of sex stereotypes in the evaluation of male (N=38) and female (N=21) job applicants in the Netherlands. The employee selection process for higher-level technical and academic jobs in real life situations was studied, with special attention to the assessment of applicants by members of selection committees. It was demonstrated that, according to the job interviewers, the ideal applicant had more masculine than feminine traits. Males and females were regarded as having the same qualifications for the job, but because male applicants were assessed as having more masculine characteristics and female applicants more feminine characteristics, the male applicants were accepted more often. The job interviewers acted according to a fit model: The applicant most similar in traits to the ideal applicant was hired for each job.     

The Interactive Effects of Facial Maturity and Name Warmth on Perceptions of Job Candidates

This study investigated the interactive effects of' name warmth and facial maturity on job-hiring recommendations and trait perceptions of others. Subjects examined the bogus resume of a job applicant, attached to which was a picture of a babyfaced or maturefaced female or male. The name of the applicant was either cold or warm, as determined by pretesting. The suitability of the candidate for jobs requiring warmth and competence was rated, and other trait judgments were made. Results revealed that applicants with warm names were viewed as more suitable for a job requiring warmth, hut less suitable for a job requiring competence, and were judged as more sincere, but less powerful, than were applicants with cold names. Name warmth modified the perceptions of power and coldness that are typical when perceiving maturefaced people, although babyfaced job-seekers' name warmth did not affect their suitability for jobs. Specifically, maturefaced applicants with warm names were judged as less powerful and more suited for a job requiring warm than were maturefaced applicants with cold names, and maturefaced female applicants with warm names were perceived as more sincere than their cold-named counterparts. The results are discussed within a context suggesting that both physical appearance, and other nonbehavioral information jointly, and systematically influence impressions of others.     

Job-content Perceptions, Performance–reward Expectancies, and Absenteeism among Low-wage Public-sector Clerical Employees

This study explored relations of job-content perceptions (i.e., skill variety and task significance), and performance–reward expectancies, with absenteeism among 134 low-wage public-sector clerical employees. Results indicated that those employees who perceived limited performance–reward expectancies (i.e., lower instrumentality), and who considered their jobs to be either higher on skill variety or task significance, were likely to be absent more often. Moreover, the link between skill variety and absenteeism was moderated by instrumentality in a manner suggesting that respondents may have utilized absenteeism as a means of compensating for perceived workplace contributions not extrinsically rewarded. These findings further suggest that employees in occupational settings for which performance-related extrinsic rewards are less available may not respond to favorable job-content perceptions in the positive manner generally predicted by job characteristics theory.     

A Closer Look at the Role of Applicant Age in Selection Decisions

Participants evaluated hypothetical applicants recruited from a younger (university students) or older (American Association of Retired Persons) population for 2 young-typed jobs, one more strongly young-typed than the other. Participants were given applicant information, including age and personal characteristics, that varied in the extent to which it was consistent with raters' job stereotypes. Results indicated that younger applicants were evaluated more favorably than older applicants. However, an Applicant Age × Job interaction effect indicated that the older applicant was evaluated less favorably for the more strongly compared with the less strongly young-typed job. In addition. applicants whose personal characteristics (other than age) were more consistent with raters' job stereotypes were evaluated more favorably than applicants whose characteristics were less consistent. Results also indicated that applicant age and personal characteristics interacted to influence applicant evaluations. The implications of these and other study results are discussed.     

Need for cognitive closure and coping strategies

This study investigated the hypothesis that the process of coping may be motivated by an interaction of directional motivational factors represented by job satisfaction/dissatisfaction and by non‐directional or epistemological motivational factors represented by the level of Need for Cognitive Closure. Need for Cognitive Closure is based on two general tendencies: the urgency tendency (“to seize”) and the permanency tendency (“to freeze”). The urgency tendency reflects the desire to attain closure as quickly as possible (“to seize”) whereas the permanence tendency refers to the inclination to maintain closure for as long as possible along with a desire to preserve or “freeze on” past knowledge and to safeguard future knowledge. The urgency and permanence notions both rest on the assumption that people under a heightened need for closure experience its absence as aversive. In relation with this, we predicted that if job satisfaction is low, the increased need for closure is related to the choice of problem‐oriented coping strategies. Alternatively, we hypothesized that with high job satisfaction an increased need for closure is related to use of avoidance coping. Questionnaires pertaining to need for cognitive closure, to coping strategies and to a measure of job satisfaction were completed by a group of 146 Croatian immigrants living in Italy. Results of the analyses confirmed that when subjects were highly satisfied with their job, their primary concern was to preserve their position. So, here the high need for closure enhanced the tendency to freeze and induced the choice of avoidance coping strategies. On the other hand, our results confirmed that when persons are not satisfied with their job, high need for closure increases the desire for change and improvement. Immigrants increased the tendency to seize manifests itself in extensive and quickened information processing relative to the use of problem‐oriented coping strategies.     

Organizational Attractiveness of Foreign‐Based Companies: A country of origin perspective

Attracting high‐quality applicants is a crucial activity for the success of an organization. In today's globalized world, multinational enterprises need to attract talent not only in the domestic market but also in overseas markets. This exploratory study introduces the country of origin image framework from marketing literature to the context of recruitment in order to examine why foreign companies are (not) attractive to local job seekers, exemplified by the case of Japanese and US companies in Vietnam. Survey results of more than 300 participants confirmed the robustness of our postulated framework. Symbolic images such as the technological development and images of people of a country predicted the attractiveness of foreign companies above and beyond instrumental images of job characteristics. Detailed explanations and practical implications are provided.     

Motivational underpinnings of social influence in work settings: Bases of social power and the need for cognitive closure

This research explored the notion that the use and efficacy of influence tactics launched from different social power bases depends on influence agents' and recipients' need for cognitive closure. In three separate studies conducted in diverse organizational contexts, it was found that, while overall participants exhibited a preference for soft over hard social influence tactics, this preference becomes less pronounced for supervisors high (versus low) on need for closure and becomes more pronounced for supervisors low on the need for closure. Overall, soft tactics were more beneficial for subordinates' performance than hard tactics; however, the benefits of soft tactics decreased as a function of subordinates' need for closure. Finally, organizational outcomes were improved when recipients who were high (versus low) on the need for closure were exposed to “hard” power tactics and those low (versus high) in the need for closure were exposed to “soft” tactics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.