Gender, Attractiveness, and Competence in Hiring Situations

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Gender, Attractiveness, and Competence in Hiring Situations Summary: In this study Desrumaux, De Bosscher, and Léoni (2009) examine the relationships between gender, attractiveness, and competence and how they influence perceptions of hireability, desirability, and utility for gender-typed jobs of different hierarchical statuses. They established several hypotheses: the first being that attractive applicants would be rated more highly in all areas for both managerial and non-managerial positions, than unattractive applicants (hypothesis 1). The second hypothesis is that attractiveness would increase ratings of hireability, desirability, and utility more in female-type jobs than male-typed jobs (hypothesis 2). The third states that highly competent applicants would be rated more highly than moderately competent applicants (hypothesis 3). The fourth hypothesis claims competence will have a greater effect on ratings of hireability, desirability, and utility for female-typed jobs than male-type jobs (hypothesis 4). In female-type jobs, competence would hold a greater significance for attractive candidates, and in male-type jobs competence would not make a difference for attractive candidates (hypothesis 5). This study used a correlational experiment design. While the relationships between the variables can be implied, they do not prove causality. There were several independent variables used: gender (male/female), attractiveness (high/moderate), competence (high/moderate, given as being based on DAT5 test scores), job sex-type (male/female), and the hierarchical status of the position (managerial/non-managerial). Using these variables, evaluators gave ratings for hireability, utility, and desirability, which are the dependent variables. The first matter of the study involved determining facial attractiveness. 25 men and 24 women were asked to rate several
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