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Company norms affect which traits are preferred in job candidates and may cause employment discrimination

Author

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.

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Pages

579-594

Publication/Series

The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and applied

Volume

146

Issue

6

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Psychology

Keywords

  • recruitment
  • norms
  • person-organizational fit
  • bias
  • discrimination

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1940-1019