Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment

Audit studies demonstrate that unemployed people are less likely to receive a callback when they apply for a job than employed candidates, the reason for this is unclear. Across two experiments (N = 461), we examine whether the perceived competence of unemployed candidates accounts for this disparit...

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Main Authors: Celestin Okoroji, Ilka H. Gleibs, Simon Howard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9997970/?tool=EBI
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author Celestin Okoroji
Ilka H. Gleibs
Simon Howard
author_facet Celestin Okoroji
Ilka H. Gleibs
Simon Howard
author_sort Celestin Okoroji
collection DOAJ
description Audit studies demonstrate that unemployed people are less likely to receive a callback when they apply for a job than employed candidates, the reason for this is unclear. Across two experiments (N = 461), we examine whether the perceived competence of unemployed candidates accounts for this disparity. In both studies, participants assessed one of two equivalent curriculum vitae’s, differing only on the current employment status. We find that unemployed applicants are less likely to be offered an interview or hired. The relationship between the employment status of the applicant and these employment-related outcomes is mediated by the perceived competence of the applicant. We conducted a mini meta-analysis, finding that the effect size for the difference in employment outcomes was d = .274 and d = .307 respectively, while the estimated indirect effect was -.151[-.241, -.062]. These results offer a mechanism for the differential outcomes of job candidates by employment status.
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spelling doaj.art-531383075fea4176aa5c96b5da4cd66a2023-03-12T05:32:22ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01183Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experimentCelestin OkorojiIlka H. GleibsSimon HowardAudit studies demonstrate that unemployed people are less likely to receive a callback when they apply for a job than employed candidates, the reason for this is unclear. Across two experiments (N = 461), we examine whether the perceived competence of unemployed candidates accounts for this disparity. In both studies, participants assessed one of two equivalent curriculum vitae’s, differing only on the current employment status. We find that unemployed applicants are less likely to be offered an interview or hired. The relationship between the employment status of the applicant and these employment-related outcomes is mediated by the perceived competence of the applicant. We conducted a mini meta-analysis, finding that the effect size for the difference in employment outcomes was d = .274 and d = .307 respectively, while the estimated indirect effect was -.151[-.241, -.062]. These results offer a mechanism for the differential outcomes of job candidates by employment status.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9997970/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Celestin Okoroji
Ilka H. Gleibs
Simon Howard
Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment
PLoS ONE
title Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment
title_full Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment
title_fullStr Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment
title_full_unstemmed Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment
title_short Inferring incompetence from employment status: An audit-like experiment
title_sort inferring incompetence from employment status an audit like experiment
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9997970/?tool=EBI
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