Company norms affect which traits are preferred in job candidates and may cause employment discrimination
Författare
Summary, in English
This study investigated a possible mechanism behind employment discrimination. Participants completed a recruitment task where emphasis on cohesion (employees should “fit in”) vs. fairness (everybody should be treated equally) was manipulated by describing the norms of a fictitious company differently. There was a comparatively stronger preference in the cohesion condition for traits and interview questions related to social competence (e.g. friendliness, gregariousness, empathy). Furthermore, participants in the cohesion condition primarily pictured socially competent employees, whereas those in the fairness condition primarily pictured employees possessing productivity-related characteristics (e.g. education, experience and talent). The norm effect was moderated by participants’ awareness of the applicants’ ethnicity. When expecting applicants with foreign backgrounds, participants in the cohesion condition showed increased preference for selection methods related to social competence. Implications for recruitment practices are discussed.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2012
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
579-594
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and applied
Volym
146
Issue
6
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Taylor & Francis
Ämne
- Psychology
Nyckelord
- recruitment
- norms
- person-organizational fit
- bias
- discrimination
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1940-1019