Title
Investigating perceived social class on the likelihood of employment during virtual interviews
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Perceptions of social class impact multiple domains in an organization. In recent years, the interview process has changed, which has increased the usage of virtual job recruitment and selection. If individuals perceive an applicant as part of a particular social class, it is possible for the perception to be associated with how qualified they perceive the applicant to be. The present study examined the influence of a perceived social class during a virtual interview on the likelihood of employment. Specifically, I hypothesized that people who perceive an applicant as having a high social class will perceive them as more qualified than an applicant perceived as low social class. Data was collected using a vignette methodology with two experimental social class manipulations via Qualtrics. A convenience sample was recruited via social media (Facebook and Instagram), and a total of 77 responses were analyzed. Using independent samples t-tests, results indicate that there was not an association between perceived social class and likelihood of employment. While results showed no statistical significance regarding perceived social class and hireability, the findings from this study can be used to deepen the understanding of virtual interviews and biases in the recruitment process.
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Included in
Investigating perceived social class on the likelihood of employment during virtual interviews
Perceptions of social class impact multiple domains in an organization. In recent years, the interview process has changed, which has increased the usage of virtual job recruitment and selection. If individuals perceive an applicant as part of a particular social class, it is possible for the perception to be associated with how qualified they perceive the applicant to be. The present study examined the influence of a perceived social class during a virtual interview on the likelihood of employment. Specifically, I hypothesized that people who perceive an applicant as having a high social class will perceive them as more qualified than an applicant perceived as low social class. Data was collected using a vignette methodology with two experimental social class manipulations via Qualtrics. A convenience sample was recruited via social media (Facebook and Instagram), and a total of 77 responses were analyzed. Using independent samples t-tests, results indicate that there was not an association between perceived social class and likelihood of employment. While results showed no statistical significance regarding perceived social class and hireability, the findings from this study can be used to deepen the understanding of virtual interviews and biases in the recruitment process.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology