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Gender and race effects on job candidate evaluation over time
Watkins, Emily C.
Watkins, Emily C.
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Abstract
Most experimental studies of the hiring process present all information about an applicant at a singular time point at which participants make a hiring decision. However, hiring contexts in the real world often present multiple time points for reviewers to form and change their impressions of a candidate. The current studies (total N = 661) investigate how changing performance information over time is differentially interpreted based on gender (Study 1) and race (Study 2). Participants were randomly assigned to a male or female (Study 1) or Black or White female (Study 2) applicant, whose job interview performance varied (Very Good, Average, or Poor). Trait ratings of the applicant were made at three time points, each after reviewing a resume, interview performance (where gender/race was revealed and performance was manipulated), and a writing sample. Participants also made a hiring decision and provided other objective ratings. Across both studies, there was little evidence of gender or race bias in hiring decisions and objective ratings among the full sample. Among a sample of participants who identified as White, the average-performing male applicant was judged more favorably than the average-performing female applicant, but a comparable pattern did not emerge in Study 2. No attitudinal moderators emerged in Study 1, but racism levels moderated nearly all judgments in Study 2. Potential explanations for the results, limitations of the study, and limitations of the typical social psychological paradigm used to study discrimination are discussed.
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Date
2022-08-31
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University of Kansas
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Keywords
Social psychology, Gender bias, Hiring decisions, Race bias, Updating impressions, Workplace discrimination