Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination
Anonymous resume screening, as assumed, does not dissuade age discriminatory effects. Building on job market signaling theory, this study investigated whether older applicants may benefit from concealing explicitly mentioned age signals on their resumes (date of birth) or whether more implicit/subtl...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01321/full |
| _version_ | 1818902569159753728 |
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| author | Eva Derous Jeroen Decoster |
| author_facet | Eva Derous Jeroen Decoster |
| author_sort | Eva Derous |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anonymous resume screening, as assumed, does not dissuade age discriminatory effects. Building on job market signaling theory, this study investigated whether older applicants may benefit from concealing explicitly mentioned age signals on their resumes (date of birth) or whether more implicit/subtle age cues on resumes (older-sounding names/old-fashioned extracurricular activities) may lower older applicants’ hirability ratings. An experimental study among 610 HR professionals using a mixed factorial design showed hiring discrimination of older applicants based on implicit age cues in resumes. This effect was more pronounced for older raters. Concealing one’s date of birth led to overall lower ratings. Study findings add to the limited knowledge on the effects of implicit age cues on hiring discrimination in resume screening and the usefulness of anonymous resume screening in the context of age. Implications for research and practice are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T20:37:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-86227ed95b974c3182821bafcf604b9c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T20:37:44Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-86227ed95b974c3182821bafcf604b9c2022-12-21T20:06:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-08-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.01321269996Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring DiscriminationEva Derous0Jeroen Decoster1Department of Personnel Management, Work, and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent UniversityGhent, BelgiumThomas More University CollegeAntwerp, BelgiumAnonymous resume screening, as assumed, does not dissuade age discriminatory effects. Building on job market signaling theory, this study investigated whether older applicants may benefit from concealing explicitly mentioned age signals on their resumes (date of birth) or whether more implicit/subtle age cues on resumes (older-sounding names/old-fashioned extracurricular activities) may lower older applicants’ hirability ratings. An experimental study among 610 HR professionals using a mixed factorial design showed hiring discrimination of older applicants based on implicit age cues in resumes. This effect was more pronounced for older raters. Concealing one’s date of birth led to overall lower ratings. Study findings add to the limited knowledge on the effects of implicit age cues on hiring discrimination in resume screening and the usefulness of anonymous resume screening in the context of age. Implications for research and practice are discussed.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01321/fullageanonymous resume screeninghiring discriminationjob market signaling theoryrecruitment |
| spellingShingle | Eva Derous Jeroen Decoster Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination Frontiers in Psychology age anonymous resume screening hiring discrimination job market signaling theory recruitment |
| title | Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination |
| title_full | Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination |
| title_fullStr | Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination |
| title_short | Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination |
| title_sort | implicit age cues in resumes subtle effects on hiring discrimination |
| topic | age anonymous resume screening hiring discrimination job market signaling theory recruitment |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01321/full |
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