Kan rekryterare undvika att påverkas av arbetssökandes utseende?
En experimentell studie
The first information recruiters have access to, when recruiting a new co-worker is the applicant´s CV. It may even happen that the applicants are sending a photo with the CV, which can lead to the possibility that the appearance of the applicant will affect the assessment. Previous research shows that individuals who are regarded as beautiful get a better assessment than those who are considered to be ugly or mediocre looking, but if this can be prevented through awareness, the problem can easily be counteracted. The purpose of this thesis is to, through an experimental study, investigate whether recruiters can avoid being affected by the applicant?s appearance in the assessment of their CV if they receive information about the stereotypical thinking that is tied to a person's appearance. The subjects consisted of 18 students, randomly divided into two groups, one that was informed that there is a stereotypical thinking associated with people's appearance (experimental group) and one that did not receive this information (control group). The expected result, that a CV with photo of a beautiful person would have higher estimates compared to a CV with photo of the mediocre looking person, or no photo at all, could not be confirmed. The expected interaction between information condition (information and no information) and beauty (beautiful and mediocre looking) was not significant, so the information did not affect the estimates in the experimental group.