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What (not) to add in your ad: When job ads discourage older or younger job seekers to apply
Abstract
Both older and younger job seekers face difficulties when entering the workforce. Qualification‐based targeted recruitment (QBTR) might be used to attract older/younger job seekers, yet how this strategy is perceived by older/younger job seekers has not been considered before. The present study fills this gap and investigated effects of negatively metastereotyped information in job ads (i.e., personality requirements or traits) on application intention and self‐efficacy of both older and younger job seekers. An experimental study ( N total = 556; 44.6% aged 50 or older, 55.4% aged 30 or younger) showed that negatively metastereotyped traits in job ads (e.g., “flexible”) lowered older job seekers’ application intention and that this effect was mediated by older job seekers’ self‐efficacy regarding that trait. No such effects were found among younger job seekers. Results showed that organizations can fail to attract older candidates because of the traits mentioned in job ads, which is particularly alarming when aiming to target age‐diverse applicants. Suggestions for practitioners and future research are formulated.
... Thus, when job ads activate age-related metastereotypes that are negative in nature, this might pose a threat to older and younger job seekers' social age identity [19] and impact whether they intent to apply for the job [20]. Research indeed showed that negative metastereotypes in job ads lowered job attraction compared to job ads without negative metastereotypes for female job seekers [7] and ethnic minority job seekers [6]. ...
... Manipulations were situated in the profile section; profiles contained HEXACO-traits [62,63] that older job seekers held either negative or no negative metastereotypes about. These negatively metastereotyped and not negatively metastereotyped traits for older people were developed and pilot tested in a previous study of this research project [20]. A more detailed description of the procedure and results of this pilot study can be retrieved from the first author. ...
... Similar to Study 1, materials were fictional job advertisements but the manipulation of traits in the profile section was now tailored to younger job seekers: profiles contained traits that younger job seekers held either negative or no negative metastereotypes about. As in Study 1, we developed and pilot tested the traits in a previous study [20]. A more detailed description of the procedure and results of this pilot study can be retrieved from the first author. ...
Building on social identity theory and cognitive models on information processing, the present paper considered whether and how stereotyped information in job ads impairs older/younger job seekers’ job attraction. Two eye-tracking experiments with older (Study 1) and younger job seekers (Study 2) investigated effects of negatively metastereotyped personality requirements (i.e., traits) on job attraction and whether attention to and memory for negative information mediated these effects. Within-participants analyses showed for both older and younger job seekers that job attraction was lower when ads included negative metastereotypes and that more attention was allocated towards these negative metastereotypes. Older, but not younger job seekers, also better recalled these negative metastereotypes compared to not negative metastereotypes. The effect of metastereotypes on job attraction was not mediated by attention or recall of information. Organizations should therefore avoid negative metastereotypes in job ads that may capture older/younger job seekers’ attention and lower job attraction.
... More research on the effects of multiple-group members is important as isolating one stereotyped characteristic (e.g., sex) while ignoring others (e.g., race or age) may oversimplify the reality of many job seekers who have multiple identities and therefore may face intersectional biases. The papers by Koçak et al. (2023) and Krings et al. (2022) ...
... Here is the result that ChatGPT produced (we only added the references to the respective papers): "The six abstracts all relate to personnel selection and industrial and organizational psychology. The first study examines the impact of negatively metastereotyped information in job ads on application intention and self-efficacy of both older and younger job seekers (Koçak et al., 2023). The second study examines the impact of self-promotion on interview performance ratings, finding that both older female and younger male candidates who engage in high self-promotion are regarded as less interpersonally warm and less likely to be hired (Krings et al., 2022). ...
... We now provide the summaries written by the editors of the Special Issue that are organized in line with the two common topics of the included papers: diversity and technology. Koçak et al. (2023) investigate the effects of negatively metastereotyped personality requirements in job advertisements on both younger and older job seekers' self-efficacy and application intentions. Metastereotypes refer to people's beliefs about stereotypes that out-group members hold about one's group (Vorauer et al., 1998). ...
... In all analyses, we controlled for whether women believed they possess the required competencies in the ads (Bandura, 2015;Tierney & Farmer, 2002;Van Hoye et al., 2015;Van Ryn & Vinokur, 1992). We measured participants' specific self-efficacy regarding the person requirements with one item for each person requirement, adapted from Koçak et al. (2023). An example item for the requirement 'being a leader' is: "I feel confident that I can be a good leader," measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale, with 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. ...
... However, given that people might also identify as non-binary, future research might consider the specific meta-stereotypes and recruitment or selection experiences of those individuals. Research has shown that meta-stereotypes also exist for other demographic groups such as older people, younger people, people with an ethnic minority background (Finkelstein et al., 2015;Koçak et al., 2023;Wille & Derous, 2017). One could therefore consider intersectionality and look at the specific negative versus positive meta-stereotypes that women of different ages and ethnic backgrounds hold, as well as the effect of those meta-stereotypes on recruitment or promotion outcomes. ...
Women are still underrepresented at the top levels of organizations across Europe and the United States. Scholars have identified obstacles that hinder women’s climb to the top but have overlooked women’s perceptions of job advertisements for top-level positions as a potential barrier to top-level positions. The present study investigated the effects of meta-stereotyped person requirements (positive vs. negative) and their wording (dispositional vs. behavioral) in job ads for top-level executive positions on female candidates’ application intention, as well as the mediating effect of job attractiveness. An experimental field study in a large, Western European governmental organization (Nmain study = 432 female officers), preceded by a pilot study (verbal protocol analysis; Npilot = 19 female executives) showed that compared to positively meta-stereotyped person requirements, negatively meta-stereotyped person requirements reduced female candidates’ attraction to a job and, in turn, their intention to apply for top-level executive positions. The way person requirements were worded in job ads (i.e., in a behavioral versus dispositional way) also affected women’s perceived job attractiveness, yet this depended on the type of requirement. Implications are considered for drafting job ads to encourage more qualified female candidates to apply.
... Like other LLMs, ChatGPT might perpetuate and reinforce biases about specific demographic groups it has learned from its training data's patterns, language, and concepts, resulting in discriminatory responses to said CV screening task. Hate speech in online fora (Bliuc, Faulkner, Jakubowicz, & McGarty, 2018;Castaño-Pulgarín, Suárez-Betancur, Vega, & López, 2021;Ederer, Goldsmith-Pinkham, & Jensen, 2023) or harmful stereotypes about minority groups in pre-existing job advertisements (Koçak, Derous, Born, & Duyck, 2022;Wille & Derous, 2017), for example, can taint the models' training processes. The GPT-3 model instance has demonstrated anti-Muslim bias in word association tasks before, consistently linking Muslims with violence and terrorism (Abid, Farooqi, & Zou, 2021). ...
Large language models offer significant potential for increasing labour productivity, such as streamlining personnel selection, but raise concerns about perpetuating systemic biases embedded into their pre-training data. This study explores the potential ethnic and gender bias of ChatGPT—a chatbot producing human-like responses to language tasks—in assessing job applicants. Using the correspondence audit approach from the social sciences, I simulated a CV screening task with 34,560 vacancy–CV combinations where the chatbot had to rate fictitious applicant profiles. Comparing ChatGPT’s ratings of Arab, Asian, Black American, Central African, Dutch, Eastern European, Hispanic, Turkish, and White American male and female applicants, I show that ethnic and gender identity influence the chatbot’s evaluations. Ethnic discrimination is more pronounced than gender discrimination and mainly occurs in jobs with favourable labour conditions or requiring greater language proficiency. In contrast, gender bias emerges in gender-atypical roles. These findings suggest that ChatGPT’s discriminatory output reflects a statistical mechanism echoing societal stereotypes. Policymakers and developers should address systemic bias in language model-driven applications to ensure equitable treatment across demographic groups. Practitioners should practice caution, given the adverse impact these tools can (re)produce, especially in selection decisions involving humans.
... Economists refer to this assessment based on group characteristics as statistical discrimination. Hate speech in online fora (Bliuc et al., 2018;Castaño-Pulgarín et al., 2021;Ederer et al., 2023) or harmful stereotypes about minority groups in pre-existing job advertisements (Koçak et al., 2022;Wille and Derous, 2017), for example, can taint the models' training processes. The GPT-3 model instance has demonstrated anti-Muslim bias in word association tasks before, consistently linking Muslims with violence and terrorism (Abid et al., 2021). ...
Large language models offer significant potential for increasing labour productivity, such as streamlining personnel selection, but raise concerns about perpetuating systemic biases embedded into their pre-training data. This study explores the potential ethnic and gender bias of ChatGPT—a chatbot producing human-like responses to language tasks—in assessing job applicants. Using the correspondence audit approach from the social sciences, I simulated a CV screening task with 34,560 vacancy–CV combinations where the chatbot had to rate fictitious applicant profiles. Comparing ChatGPT’s ratings of Arab, Asian, Black American, Central African, Dutch, Eastern European, Hispanic, Turkish, and White American male and female applicants, I show that ethnic and gender identity influence the chatbot’s evaluations. Ethnic discrimination is more pronounced than gender discrimination and mainly occurs in jobs with favourable labour conditions or requiring greater language proficiency. In contrast, gender bias emerges in gender-atypical roles. These findings suggest that ChatGPT’s discriminatory output reflects a statistical mechanism echoing societal stereotypes. Policymakers and developers should address systemic bias in language model-driven applications to ensure equitable treatment across demographic groups. Practitioners should practice caution, given the adverse impact these tools can (re)produce, especially in selection decisions involving humans.
... Koçak, A., Derous, E., Born, M. Ph., & Duyck, W. (2023). What (not) to add in your ad: When job ads discourage older or younger job seekers to apply. ...
Age attitudes and age stereotypes in the workplace can lead to discrimination and impaired productivity. Previous studies have predominantly assessed age stereotypes with explicit measures. However, sole explicit measurement is insufficient because of social desirability and potential inaccessibility of stereotypical age evaluations to introspection. We aimed to advance the implicit and explicit assessment of work-related evaluations of age groups and age stereotypes and report data collected in three samples: students (n = 50), older adults (n = 53), and workers (n = 93). Evaluative age attitudes were measured implicitly with an Implicit Association Test. Regardless of group, age, and condition (neutral or semantically biased stimuli), the results confirm a stable, moderate implicitly measurable preference for younger over older workers. Whereas explicit measures of general age preferences showed no clear age preference, differentiated explicit measures of work-related age stereotypes also revealed stable preferences in all three samples: Younger workers were rated higher on performance and adaptability and older workers were rated higher on competence, reliability, and warmth. The explicit-implicit correlations were relatively low. Although explicit work-related age stereotypes are differentiated, the stable implicitly measured age bias raises concern. We suggest to apply implicit and explicit measures in the field of ageism in the workplace.
Older employees’ knowledge sharing with younger colleagues is pivotal for organizational knowledge retention. We developed a social-cognitive internalization model that explains why older employees’ knowledge sharing with younger colleagues is often inhibited. Specifically, we focused on perceived age discrimination at work as a threat to older employees’ perceptions of their job-related capabilities (i.e., occupational self-efficacy), which in turn reduces older employees’ knowledge sharing with younger colleagues. Study 1, a field study with 100 age-diverse employee dyads provided support for our framework. Older employees who perceived age discrimination showed lower occupational self-efficacy, which predicted less knowledge sharing with younger colleagues. To help organizations address this challenge, we extended our theorizing by considering organizational context and hypothesized supportive effects of the availability of age-specific HR practices (i.e., HR development and HR accommodation activities). We replicated the first study’s findings in Study 2 using a three-wave survey with 472 older employees. Additionally, we found that HR accommodation practices strengthened the positive relation between occupational self-efficacy and knowledge sharing. Hence, HR accommodation practices constitute a double-edged sword: They helped older employees with higher occupational self-efficacy but impair knowledge sharing by older employees with lower occupational self-efficacy resulting from perceived age discrimination.
The reverse correlation (RC) method has been widely used, because it allows visualization of mental representations without a priori assumptions about relevant dimensions. We employed the RC method to visualize mental representations of self and examined their relationships with traits related to self-image. For this purpose, 110 participants (70 women) performed a two-image forced choice RC task to generate a classification image of self (self-CI). Participants perceived their self-CIs as bearing a stronger resemblance to themselves than did CIs of others (filler-CIs). Valence ratings of participants who performed the RC task (RC sample) and of 30 independent raters both showed positive correlations with self-esteem, explicit self-evaluation, and extraversion. Moreover, valence ratings of independent raters were negatively correlated with social anxiety symptoms. On the other hand, valence ratings of the RC sample and independent raters were not correlated with depression symptoms, trait anxiety, or social desirability. The results imply that mental representations of self can be properly visualized by using the RC method.
A compelling issue for organizations and societies at largeis to ensure external employability of the workforce acrossworkers’entire work-life span. Using the frameworks of agenorms, stereotyping and age meta-stereotypes, we investi-gate whether (a) age is negatively related to perceivedexternal employability; and (b) the age-employability link ismoderated by HR developmental practices (HRDPs) andunemployment rate. We argue that being aware of stereo-types and age norms in organizations, and holding alsometa-stereotypes about their group, older workers perceivethemselves as less externally employable. However, thecontext–HRDPs that one has experienced, and the countryunemployment rate–would act as buffers. Using datafrom a large-scale survey from over 9000 individuals in 30institutionally diverse countries, we found that the negativerelationship between age and perceived external employ-ability was significant across all countries. In addition, atthe individual level, we found that HRDPs acted as a bufferfor this negative relationship, such that the effect was lesspronounced for individuals who have experienced moreHRDPs during their working life. At the country level, thehypothesized moderating effect of unemployment rate wasnot observed. Limitations, future research directions, as wellas practical implications of the study are discussed.
Available through: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/CIPHNTVZKYRCGZUDGTA6/full?target=10.1080/09585192.2020.1737833
The authors develop and evaluate an online networking intervention, Building Relationships and Improving Opportunities (BRIO), built in conjunction with the networking literature and social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1999). A field experiment using 491 unemployed job seekers shows that the intervention increases networking intensity, networking self‐efficacy, and proximal networking benefits. Further, the intervention generates higher quality reemployment through its positive effects on networking self‐efficacy. Individuals who completed the intervention and were also lower in extraversion showed the most positive improvements in networking self‐efficacy and reemployment quality. The study advances the literature by uncovering the mechanisms through which a networking intervention may result in improved reemployment success, and demonstrating the moderating role of individual differences in affecting intervention outcomes. The study helps practice by providing a publicly available, research‐based training to improve job search networking. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
An age metastereotype occurs when we activate the idea that another age group is holding a stereotype of our age group, but what happens after this occurs? We used experience sampling methodology to explore reactions to, and subsequent behaviors associated with, positive and negative age metastereotypes occurring over the course of a work week. One hundred and eighty five employees from various organizations across the United States responded to a daily survey tapping into activation of positive and negative age metastereotypes, reactions (threat, challenge, or boost), and interpersonal behaviors (avoidance, conflict, and engagement). Hypotheses regarding relationships among reactions and behaviors were largely supported, but there were some unexpected findings regarding reactions to positive and negative age metastereotypes. Of particular interest: (a) younger respondents experienced more negative age metastereotypes than older respondents, even those that have been shown to be typically older metastereotypes, and (b) experiencing older negative metastereotypes, regardless of the age of the respondent, was related to challenge reactions while experiencing younger negative metastereotypes, regardless of the age of respondent, was related to threat. Our findings demonstrate advantages to studying age metastereotypes using experience sampling methods, and point to a need for more theoretical refinement to account for different reactions and behaviors depending on respondent age and type of metastereotype.
Multiple studies have found that older workers may be disadvantaged in their job search due to explicit age stereotypes. However, no published research has examined the effect of both explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) negative age stereotypes against older workers on hiring decisions. The current study fills this gap by using an experimental design to simultaneously examine how both explicit and implicit age stereotypes affect the evaluation of resumes for older and younger job applicants. Participants completed measures of explicit age stereotypes via a questionnaire and implicit age stereotypes with an Implicit Association Test focused on older and younger working-age people. They then completed a resume screening task that included younger and older potential applicants. Results showed that participants’ explicit age stereotypes positively influenced the evaluation of younger applicants’ resumes but had no significant effect on the evaluation of older applicants’ resumes. Conversely, implicit age stereotypes had a negative effect on the evaluation of older applicants’ resumes but had no significant effect on the evaluation of younger applicants’ resumes. The results suggest that both implicit and explicit age stereotypes may harm older job applicants’ hireablity, but through different pathways.
At present, individuals increasingly have to take ownership of their working lives. This situation requires them to self-manage and plan their careers. However, individuals’ career management does not happen in a vacuum. Studies have therefore stressed the importance of organizations introducing Sustainable Human Resource Management to share the responsibility for individuals’ employability. This is expected to motivate especially disadvantaged workers, such as older workers (≥ 50 years) and those working in lower-skilled jobs, to work longer across the life-span. In view of the growing scholarly and societal attention for Sustainable Career Development (SCD), the present study examines the relationships between workers’ chronological age (comparing older workers with younger and middle-aged groups, respectively) and dimensions of self-reported employability, and how perceptions of negative (meta-)stereotyping regarding older workers’ productivity, reliability, and personal adaptability moderate these relationships. To examine how possible underlying psychological mechanisms can affect individuals’ labor market decisions and behaviors, we developed hypotheses derived from socio-emotional selectivity and self-categorization theory, which we tested using data collected among supermarket workers in various age groups (N = 98). Moderated regression analyses showed that, in line with our hypotheses, perceptions of negative age-based (meta-)stereotyping amplifies the negative effect of older workers’ age on their self-perceived employability. In particular, we found that: (1) the older worker group reported lower levels of three of the distinguished employability dimensions (i.e., anticipation and optimization, corporate sense, and balance, but not occupational expertise and personal flexibility) and (2) perceptions of stronger negative (meta-)stereotypes regarding older workers in the organization had a moderating effect on the relationship between age group and four of the distinguished employability dimensions (i.e., occupational expertise, anticipation and optimization, corporate sense, and balance, but not personal flexibility). We conclude that age group membership as well as negative age-based (meta-)stereotypes deter older workers from enhancing their employability, which may potentially impact their career decisions and opportunities, especially in view of swift changing labor market demands. We argue, therefore, that Sustainable HR practices should focus on opposing negative age-based (meta-)stereotyping and on creating an inclusive work climate, meanwhile enhancing workers’ ambitions and career opportunities over the life cycle.
Both older and younger employees experience age-based stereotype threat in the workplace, but only older employees appear to be vulnerable to disengagement as a consequence. The present study examines two mechanisms that might explain this age difference: (1) stress appraisals of challenge and hindrance and (2) rumination. Using a weekly diary study design over five weeks, 280 employees across the lifespan (aged between 18 and 66 years), completed 1,288 weekly surveys. Work outcomes examined were job satisfaction, job engagement, affective organizational commitment, workplace wellbeing, and intentions to quit. Results showed that while both older and younger employees experienced age-based stereotype threat, it was uniquely problematic for older employees. Furthermore, challenge appraisals mediated the relationships between age-based stereotype threat and job engagement, commitment, and intentions to quit among older, but not younger, employees. Rumination mediated the relationships between age-based stereotype threat and job satisfaction, commitment, wellbeing, and intentions to quit among older, but not younger, employees. These findings suggest that stereotype threat might be detrimental to work outcomes because older employees are less likely to appraise stereotype threat as a challenge, and more likely to ruminate when they experience stereotype threat.
Purpose
Grounded in the concept of signaling theory and instrumental-symbolic framework, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model to examine the impact of print job advertisement (ad) dimensions (message contents) and organizational familiarity on job seeker’s perception of attitude, organizational attractiveness, and application intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a theoretical exploration based on existing literature.
Findings
The presence of instrumental and symbolic attributes in print job advertisement such as job and work characteristics, aesthetics, employee testimonial/picture, corporate image enhancing statements, organizational culture-enhancing statements, and human resource offerings are more likely to play influential roles in creating favorable attitude, organizational attractiveness, and application intention in a job seeker. Apart from this, organizational familiarity plays a moderating role on job seeker’s attitude formation and in gaining organizational attractiveness.
Practical implications
The study offers a clear guideline to recruiting organizations, HR managers, recruitment agencies, or consultants on how to design a recruitment advertisement to pool a large number of potential applicants. The study also throws light on testing the effectiveness of a recruitment advertisement, similar to commercial ads. Moreover, the outcome of testing would help the recruiters understand the pulse of the job seeker toward the ad, job, and organization.
Originality/value
This study theoretically clarifies the role of instrumental and symbolic attributes or dimensions of job ads and the role of organizational familiarity in inducing positive attitude formation and organizational attractiveness, in the process that cultivates application intention in a potential job seeker.
Qualification-based targeted recruitment strategies aim to increase the number of qualified applicants from certain social groups, such as women. Typically, such strategies assume that individuals are more likely to apply for a job when they possess the requirements needed for that job. However, how job seekers react to requirements in job ads is not often considered and is explored in the present study. In two experimental studies with Belgian university students we investigated whether person requirements about which women have negative meta-stereotypes (like the trait of emotionality) and the way such requirements are formulated in job ads (i.e., using trait-like adjectives, “You are calm/not nervous,” or behavior-like verbs, “You remain calm in stressful situations”) affected women’s job attraction and decision to apply. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that job attraction was lower if women held negative meta-stereotypes about required personality traits in job ads (Study 1; 218 women; M age = 23.44 years, range = 21–42; 97% ethnic majorities). Moreover, qualified women applied to a lesser extent if a negatively meta-stereotyped trait was worded in a trait-like way than when it was worded in a behavior-like way (Study 2; n = 183; M age = 23.68 years, range = 21–44; 58% women; 97% ethnic majorities). A practical implication is that recruiters should be sensitive to how they formulate job ads if they wish to attract a highly qualified and gender-diverse applicant pool.
Based on an integration of job design and lifespan developmental theories, Truxillo et al. (2012) proposed that job characteristics interact with employee age in predicting important work outcomes. Using an experimental policy-capturing design, we investigated age-differential effects of four core job characteristics (i.e., job autonomy, task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job) on job attraction (i.e., individuals' rating of job attractiveness). Eighty-two employees between 19 and 65 years (Mage = 41, SD = 14) indicated their job attraction for each of 40 hypothetical job descriptions in which the four job characteristics were systematically manipulated (in total, participants provided 3,280 ratings). Results of multilevel analyses showed that the positive effects of task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job were stronger for younger compared to older employees, whereas we did not find significant age-differential effects of job autonomy on job attraction. These findings are only partially consistent with propositions of Truxillo et al.'s (2012) lifespan perspective on job design.
This chapter examines the literature on intergroup contact from a communication perspective. The basic idea of intergroup contact theory—that contact between groups reduces prejudice—is presented. Research examining this idea from a communication perspective is described and integrated with the large social-psychological body of work. We focus first on direct, face-to-face contact between members of different groups. We then discuss various forms of indirect contact including vicarious, extended, imagined, and computer-mediated forms of contact. Finally, we present an extended research agenda for the field of communication to contribute to what is fundamentally a communicative event.
Despite great efforts to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), relatively few women choose careers in these fields. We argue that women might expect to feel less good in contexts where unfavorable gender stereotypes are activated in their minds (e.g., by strong underrepresentation) and, consequently, are less likely to aspire to STEM careers. In two pilot studies (Ns = 28/61), we confirmed that undergraduate women expect more negative and less positive affect (i.e., generally (un)pleasant emotions) and a heightened sense of threat in a stereotype-activating, compared to a not stereotype-activating, test scenario. In Study 1 (N = 102), the scenario indirectly lowered college women’s STEM career aspiration (adjusted for preliminary domain identification) due to lower anticipated positive affect, but not to higher negative affect, in the stereotype-activating scenario. The scenario had no detrimental effect on college men’s anticipated affect or their career aspirations. In Study 2, 91 high school students reported anticipated affect and self-efficacy in different university majors and their intentions to choose the subject as a major. The more stereotypically male (in terms of gender distribution) the subject, the more negative and the less positive was young women’s, but not young men’s, anticipated affect. Only lower positive, but not higher negative, affect predicted low study intentions over and above self-efficacy. To increase women’s aspirations, their expected feelings in STEM deserve attention. One approach to foster positive affect might be to create less stereotypical STEM contexts.
Increasing age diversity in the workforce points to the need to understand the dynamics of interpersonal relations across age groups. An important element of these interactions involves interpersonal perceptions, including both what an individual believes about members of other age groups (stereotypes) and what individuals believe other age groups think of their own group (metastereotypes). We explore the content and accuracy of the stereotypes and metastereotypes in a sample of 247 younger, middle-aged, and older workers. We compare the stereotypes and metastereotypes of and by different groups in terms of their affective valence (positive/negative) and compare the results produced by open-ended and closed-ended methods. We map out the usefulness of these data for future work towards enhancing cross-aged interactions in the workplace.
Research on job search and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) has identified job search attitude, subjective norm, and job search self-efficacy as the most proximal determinants of job seekers’ search intentions and subsequently job search behaviors. However, we do not yet know how more distal individual differences (e.g., personality) and situational factors (e.g., social context) might help to predict these key TPB determinants of job search behavior. In an integrative model of job search behavior, we propose specific relationships between these distal variables and the TPB determinants, which in turn are expected to mediate the effects of individual differences and situational factors on job search behavior. The hypothesized model is tested in a large representative sample of 1,177 unemployed Flemish job seekers using a two-wave design and provides a satisfactory fit to the data. Extraversion, conscientiousness, core self-evaluations, employment commitment, financial need, and social support are found to differentially relate to instrumental and affective job search attitude, subjective norm, and job search self-efficacy. In addition, all distal variables are indirectly related to job search behavior through their effects on the TPB variables. These results support our expanded and integrative model of job search behavior.
Stereotypes about different groups persist in organizations. Employees from such groups may experience stereotype threat, or the concern that they are being judged on the basis of demeaning stereotypes about groups to which they belong. The goal of this focal article is to discuss whether stereotype threat is a useful construct for organizational psychology research and practice. To this end, we focus on consequences other than acute performance deficits in laboratory settings. In particular, we examine studies that highlight the effects of stereotype threat on intrapersonal outcomes (e.g., job attitudes), interpersonal outcomes (e.g., negotiation), and on the relationship between employees and their organization. The research reviewed suggests that stereotype threat is a potentially important phenomenon in organizations, but it also highlights the paucity of research in an organizational context. We provide suggestions for future research directions as well as for the prevention and amelioration of stereotype threat in the workplace.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a vast field and widely used by many applied researchers in the social and behavioral sciences. Over the years, many software pack-ages for structural equation modeling have been developed, both free and commercial. However, perhaps the best state-of-the-art software packages in this field are still closed-source and/or commercial. The R package lavaan has been developed to provide applied researchers, teachers, and statisticians, a free, fully open-source, but commercial-quality package for latent variable modeling. This paper explains the aims behind the develop-ment of the package, gives an overview of its most important features, and provides some examples to illustrate how lavaan works in practice.
We investigated the effect of how one might expect one’s group to be viewed by a dominant outgroup (i.e., metastereotypes) on employability beliefs of members of disadvantaged groups. Based on the extensive literature on stereotype threat, we hypothesized that activating negative metastereotypes would undermine employability beliefs of members of disadvantaged groups, because such beliefs are likely to threaten their state self-esteem. In particular, we expected that an effect of negative metastereotyping on employability beliefs would be explained by momentary self-doubts and be particularly evident among members whose dispositional self-esteem is high rather than low to begin with. Taken jointly, results from a correlational study (n = 80) and an experimental study (n = 56) supported these hypotheses, and discussion focuses on their implications for mobility into the workplace.
The relationship between the self and the collective is discussed from the perspective of self-categorization theory. Self-categorization theory makes a basic distinction between personal and social identity as different levels of self-categorization. It shows how the emergent properties of group processes can be explained in terms of a shift in self perception from personal to social identity. It also elucidates how self-categorization varies with the social context. It argues that self-categorizing is inherently variable, fluid, and context dependent, as sedf-categories are social comparative and are always relative to a frame of reference. This notion has major implications for accepted ways of thinking about the self: The variability of self-categorizing provides the perceiver with behavioral and cognitive flexibility and ensures that cognition is always shaped by the social context in which it takes place.
The six most important personality dimensions and the HEXACO Personality Inventory
The six most important personality dimensions and the HEXACO Personality Inventory
R.E. de Vries, M.C. Ashton & K. Lee, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 22, September 2009, nr. 3, pp. 232-274
Recent lexical research on the structure of personality has revealed six independent and cross-cultural corresponding dimensions of personality in the same datasets that have led to the emergence of the Big Five model of personality. These six dimensions, Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience, constitute the HEXACO model of personality. In two studies, the psychometric properties of the Dutch HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI) and the Dutch HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised (HEXACO-PI-R) and the relations of its factor- and facet-scales with background variables, the NEO-PI-R, the Dutch Personality Questionnaire (DPQ), and the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) are investigated. The results show that the HEXACO-PI(-R) has sound psychometric properties and is meaningfully related to the abovementioned questionnaires. Implications for personality research and assessment are discussed.
Research on targeted recruitment has focused on targeting applicants with surface-level attributes such as underrepresented demographic groups. The present study extends targeted recruitment research by examining how advertising human resource policies might be useful for targeting both surface- and deep-level attributes. Specifically, the current study uses an experimental design to examine the impact of work-family, diversity, and employee development policies on the job-pursuit intentions of working adults in the United States. We examined surface- (demographic characteristics; e.g., race) and deep-level differences (attitudes or values; e.g., diversity values) as predictors of whether participants intend to pursue jobs with firms advertising these human resource (HR) policies. Deep-level differences consistently predicted job-pursuit intentions for all three HR policies, but only marginal support was obtained for surface-level variables as predictors. Findings suggest that targeted recruitment based on deep-level attributes may be more successful than targeted recruitment based on surface-level factors.
Women in quantitative fields risk being personally reduced to negative stereotypes that allege a sex-based math inability. This situational predicament, termed stereotype threat, can undermine women’s performance and aspirations in all quantitative domains. Gender-stereotypic television commercials were employed in three studies to elicit the female stereotype among both men and women. Study 1 revealed that only women for whom the activated stereotype was self-relevant underperformed on a subsequent math test. Exposure to the stereotypic commercials led women taking an aptitude test in Study 2 to avoid math items in favor of verbal items. In Study 3, women who viewed the stereotypic commercials indicated less interest in educational/vocational options in which they were susceptible to stereotype threat (i.e., quantitative domains) and more interest in fields in which they were immune to stereotype threat (i.e., verbal domains).
The authors identify, analyze, and summarize prior research from 117 research articles and books that deal with age stereotypes in the workplace. They discover and report the most prevalent and well-supported findings that have implications for human resource management. These findings are described in terms of prevalent age stereotypes that occur in work settings, evidence refuting age stereotypes, and moderators of age stereotypes. The authors provide recommendations for practice and future research.
This research examined whether normal-weight people who believe they are overweight expect that other people negatively stereotype them when their appearance becomes relevant. moreover, it was examined whether these negative "meta-stereotypes" in turn make people feel worthless. Indeed, the first study showed that body weight dissatisfied women automatically activated negative meta-stereotypes about being overweight when they thought their appearance was evaluated. study 2 revealed that only meta-stereotypes about being overweight, and not traits that are unrelated to the meta-stereotype, mediate the relation between body weight dissatisfaction and self-evaluation. study 3 replicated this finding by manipulating body weight dissatisfaction. finally, study 4 revealed that body weight dissatisfied women are especially likely to feel negative about themselves as a result of applying negative meta-stereotypes when their body is visible.
It is argued that (a) social identification is a perception of oneness with a group of persons; (b) social identification stems from the categorization of individuals, the distinctiveness and prestige of the group, the salience of outgroups, and the factors that traditionally are associated with group formation; and (c) social identification leads to activities that are congruent with the identity, support for institutions that embody the identity, stereotypical perceptions of self and others, and outcomes that traditionally are associated with group formation, and it reinforces the antecedents of identification. This perspective is applied to organizational socialization, role conflict, and intergroup relations.
The workforce in most industrialized countries is aging. However, the role of age in job design has largely been ignored. In the present paper, we apply lifespan development perspectives to the interaction between job characteristics and age. Specifically, we examine the possible joint effects of age and job characteristics on job satisfaction, engagement, and performance, developing a series of propositions to guide future research. We also discuss possible boundary conditions, mediating mechanisms, and future research challenges.
Using the theory of planned behavior, we examined the effects of different recruitment-related information sources on the job pursuit of highly educated graduates. The study was conducted using a real-life longitudinal design. Participants reported on potential employers they were interested in. We used hierarchical linear modeling to analyze within-participant relationships of different information sources with the theory of planned behavior variables, job pursuit behavior, and actual job choice. The theory of planned behavior relationships was supported. Recruitment advertising and positive word of mouth related positively to job pursuit intention and behavior. Negative publicity and word of mouth partly related to job pursuit behavior, indicating their role in the recruitment process. On-campus presence related negatively to job pursuit intention and behavior, suggesting that recruiters should convey parsimonious and realistic job-related information.
Assessed the impact of training designed to boost general self-efficacy (GSE) on job-search activity and on reemployment among 66 persons unemployed for up to 18 wks. Randomly assigned experimental participants attended 8 behavioral-modeling workshop sessions over 2.5 wks. The manipulation check showed that training boosted GSE as intended. The workshop also increased job-search activity, confirming the hypothesis that raising GSE motivates intensification of effort. The treatment increased reemployment among participants low in initial GSE but not among those with high GSE. The greater plasticity of individuals low in GSE suggests that the practical utility of training is moderated by initial GSE. It is concluded that individuals of low GSE should be given priority access to scarce behavioral-modeling training resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article examines the self-presentation goals that underlie attraction to organizations. Expanding on Lievens and Highhouse’s (2003) instrumental vs. symbolic classification of corporate attributes, a theory of symbolic attraction is presented that posits social-identity consciousness as a moderator of the relation between symbolic inferences about organizations (e.g., this company is dynamic and innovative) and attraction to those organizations. A measure of social-identity consciousness is developed, and a series of studies confirmed two dimensions, labeled concern for social adjustment and concern for value expression. Preliminary evidence supports the validity of the measure and its role in moderating attraction to symbolic features of well-known firms.
Over the past decade, there has been a move towards examining public relations as a socio-cultural practice, acknowledging practitioners as influential communicators who produce and symbolise cultural values through public relations messages. Ideally, a diverse group of professionals would aide in representing a diverse society, but to date, the profession remains female dominated. In this article, it is proposed that practitioners’ own discourse do not only establish what is most valued in the occupation and which habitus suits the practice best, but that the discourse also opens and closes occupational entry for new practitioners thereby contributing to a lack of diversity.
This article presents the findings of an indicative thematic content analysis of one of the most common, yet under-research sites of discourse, namely entry-level job advertisements in New Zealand and Australia. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the analysis found that the advertisements placed little to no emphasis on the nature of the work, instead focusing on elements of ‘fit’ whereby new entrants were expected to be charismatic, friendly, and willing to work in an environment that is ‘fun’ and ‘flexible’. In doing so, public relations practitioners tacitly created invisible barriers, a self-limiting occupational culture and furthered existing stereotypes of the ‘perfect’ practitioner.
This study explored how age compared to generational metastereotypes (i.e., what people think other people believe about their age group/generation) affect older adults’ sense of agency and stereotype threat and, consequently, their job search self-efficacy. We conducted an experiment including N = 183 participants between 50 and 79 years of age, asking respondents to think about either age or generational metastereotypes. We then explored the extent to which these metastereotypes influenced participants’ job search self-efficacy through perceptions of agency and age-based stereotype threat. First, results demonstrate that the impact of age compared to generational metastereotypes on perceived agency and age-based stereotype threat was moderated by respondent age, such that effects were only significant for older adults (60-79 years) but not middle-aged adults (50-59 years). Second, among older adults, perceptions of agency and stereotype threat mediated the effect of metastereotypes on job search self-efficacy. Our results suggest that encouraging older adults to identify with their generational membership in contrast to their age may positively influence perceptions of their ability to find a job and ultimately their actual job search behaviors.
We use a résumé audit study to investigate the role of employment and unemployment histories in callbacks to job applications. We find that applicants with 52 weeks of unemployment have a lower callback rate than those with shorter spells. There is no relationship, however, between spell length and callback among applicants with spells of 24 weeks or less. We also find that both younger and older applicants have a lower callback probability than prime-aged applicants. Finally, we find that applicants who are employed at the time of application have a lower callback rate than do unemployed applicants.
Metastereotypes, the stereotypes a person believes that those outside of their group hold of a social group to which (s)he belongs, have been implicated in problematic intergroup relationships and communication. Using an online survey administered to participants (aged 18–30, or 65 and older) recruited via Amazon’s MTurk (final N = 311), we tested the degree to which eliciting positive versus negative age-based metastereotypes affected perceptions of interage distance and the desire to avoid interage contact. The results of conditional process model analyses suggest that metastereotype valence has an indirect effect on these outcomes via intergroup anxiety, but that this is only the case when individuals believe that age-related stereotypes are applied to them personally by members of an age-based outgroup. These findings suggest that thinking of positive metastereotypes rather than negative ones could be a route to facilitating or improving interage contact, and that personalization could amplify these potential benefits.
Targeted recruitment strategies aim to communicate job vacancies to specific groups of job seekers that organizations wish to attract, such as qualified ethnic minorities. Typically, these strategies do not consider how person requirements are communicated in job advertisements and how job seekers from different ethnic groups react to such requirements. Two field experiments among actual job seekers investigated whether the type of required trait and the wording of traits affected ethnic minorities’ job attraction (Study 1, N = 140) and qualified ethnic minorities’ and majorities’ decision to apply (Study 2, N = 130). Findings show that ethnic minority job seekers were less attracted to job ads targeting a trait they have negative meta-stereotypes about. Wording of traits did not moderate this effect. However, ethnic minority job seekers who were qualified for a negatively meta-stereotyped trait decided not to apply when that trait was worded in a dispositional (vs. a behavioral) way.
The proportion of workers in their 50s, 60s, and 70s is larger than ever before. Current workforce trends indicate global increases in retirement ages and that many individuals are working until later ages than in decades past, and older people are applying for jobs and at later ages. Research to date on age discrimination in selection has focused primarily on disparate treatment or intentional discrimination. However, based on accumulated knowledge about age-related changes in cognitive and physical abilities as well as changes in personality and work motivation across the life course, we suggest that more attention be paid to the possibility of age-based subgroup differences on selection procedures, manifested as adverse impact and differential prediction. We provide recommendations to guide future human resource management research and practice.
The present commentary addresses issues raised in four replies to my editorial on the functional properties of perceived self-efficacy (Bandura, 2012). In my comments on the paper by Jackson, Hill, and Roberts (2012), I discuss the arbitrary nature of “disposition” and question whether an essentially atheoretical computer-structured inventory based on a mixture of superficially assessed habitual behaviors constitutes a theory of personality. In another set of comments, which speak to the paper by Vancouver (2012), I identify two major flaws in Powers’ (1991) perceptual control theory and document experimental compromises in Vancouver’s efforts to demonstrate that goals and self-efficacy operate counteractively. My comments on the Yeo and Neal (2013) paper center on their unsuccessful efforts to explain and verify the proposition that general and specific self-efficacy work at cross-purposes. In response to Bledow’s (2013) entry, I address the conceptual ambiguity of his theory of unconscious self-motivation, misconstruals of the role of self-efficacy in the process of change, and marginalization of the functional role of consciousness in human behavior.
Using data from two different firms, this study tested a new construct, creative selfefficacy, tapping employees' beliefs that they can be creative in their work roles. Results support the discriminant validity of the construct and indicate that job tenure, job self-efficacy, supervisor behavior, and job complexity contribute to creative efficacy beliefs. Creative self-efficacy also predicted creative performance beyond the predictive effects of job self-efficacy. Differences in results between white-collar and blue-collar samples suggest considerations for both theory and practice.
A refinement of the construct of age, specifically ‘older’, is recognised as a critical measurement concern for experts in both ageing research and policy formation. In this context, we set out to both chronologically define an ‘older worker’ and to identify on what basis the age of ‘older’ is determined. In doing so, we draw on open-ended survey data (collected in 2011) from a sample of 407 organisational decision makers across all industries in Ireland. Our focus was specifically on the perspective of organisational decision makers because these individuals will be instrumental in facing the challenges associated with workforce ageing. The results show that workers are considered as ‘older’ at a younger age than might be expected and that decision makers conceptualise workers as ‘older’ using various approaches in the organisational context. Our findings contribute to the literature in three ways: firstly, by providing an important empirically derived understanding of the term ‘older worker’; secondly, by empirically examining previously suggested ‘possible’ indicators of age; and thirdly, by demonstrating that these indicators are conceptually and empirically distinct, advancing theory on the concept of age in the workplace.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vital issue of managerial recruitment for private industry. Personality and demographic variables and their interactions are to be examined to determine the extent they uniquely influence the attraction of business professionals to managerial jobs in simulated position advertisements.
Design/methodology/approach
– The study consisted of 330 experienced business professionals who role‐played as applicants for managerial positions by rating jobs described in simulated position advertisements.
Findings
– After statistically controlling for the demographic variables, the hierarchical regression analyses suggested that personality (inclusion, control, openness) as determined by the FIRO Element B explained statistically significant job rating variance in each of the three regression models. Thus, job applicant personality influenced the attraction of the participants to simulated managerial jobs.
Originality/value
– These findings suggest the practical significance of human resource professionals producing recruitment media to attract managerial applicants with the appropriate personality to best assure a good person‐job fit. This notion is discussed as a possible lost cost method for managerial recruitment improvement and as a solid first step in developing a cadre of managers for organizations.
This longitudinal field study examined the relationship between perceived person–job (PJ) and person–organization (PO) fit and organizational attraction, intentions to accept a job offer, and actual job offer decision. Data were collected from 193 graduate applicants prior to the selection process, during the selection process, at the end of the selection process, and after job acceptance decision. The findings showed support for the hypothesis that perceptions of PJ and PO fit influenced attraction at different stages of selection. The second hypothesis that the relationship between perceptions of PJ and PO fit and intentions to accept a job offer are mediated by organizational attraction was partially supported. Mid-selection, the relationship between PJ fit perceptions and intentions to accept a job offer was mediated by organizational attraction; in contrast, at the end of the selection process, there was a direct relationship between PJ fit perceptions and intentions. PO fit perceptions were unrelated to intentions to accept a job offer. PJ and PO fit perceptions (before and during the selection process) were unrelated to actual job acceptance decision. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring that applicants have sufficient information about the job during the recruitment and selection process.
This meta-analysis investigated the relationships between person–job (PJ), person–organization (PO), person–group, and person–supervisor fit with preentry (applicant attraction, job acceptance, intent to hire, job offer) and postentry individual-level criteria (attitudes, performance, withdrawal behaviors, strain, tenure). A search of published articles, conference presentations, dissertations, and working papers yielded 172 usable studies with 836 effect sizes. Nearly all of the credibility intervals did not include 0, indicating the broad generalizability of the relationships across situations. Various ways in which fit was conceptualized and measured, as well as issues of study design, were examined as moderators to these relationships in studies of PJ and PO fit. Interrelationships between the various types of fit are also meta-analyzed. 25 studies using polynomial regression as an analytic technique are reviewed separately, because of their unique approach to assessing fit. Broad themes emerging from the results are discussed to generate the implications for future research on fit.