Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired!
Previous literature reports that obese persons are discriminated in the workplace. Evidence suggests that obese people are perceived as having less leadership potential, and in comparison to normal weight peers, are expected to be less successful. This study examined whether obese people are discrim...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2016-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00647/full |
| _version_ | 1811322260488716288 |
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| author | Stuart William Flint Stuart William Flint Martin eČadek Sonia eCodreanu Vanja eIvić Colene eZomer Amalia eGomoiu |
| author_facet | Stuart William Flint Stuart William Flint Martin eČadek Sonia eCodreanu Vanja eIvić Colene eZomer Amalia eGomoiu |
| author_sort | Stuart William Flint |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Previous literature reports that obese persons are discriminated in the workplace. Evidence suggests that obese people are perceived as having less leadership potential, and in comparison to normal weight peers, are expected to be less successful. This study examined whether obese people are discriminated against when applying for employment. Three hypotheses were offered in line with previous research: 1) obese people are less likely to be assessed positively on personnel suitability than normal weight people; 2) obese people in active employment are more likely to be discriminated against than people in non-active employment; and 3) obese women are more likely to be discriminated against than obese men. 181 Participants were sampled from sedentary, standing, manual and heavy manual occupations. Participants rated hypothetical candidates on their suitability for employment. Employees also completed measures of implicit and explicit attitudes towards obesity. MANOVA was conducted to examine if obese candidates were discriminated against during the recruitment procedure. Results demonstrated that participants rated obese candidates as less suitable compared with normal weight candidates and when the weight status of the candidate was not revealed for work across the four workplace groups. Participant gender and weight status also impacted perceptions of candidates’ suitability for work and discrimination towards obese candidates was higher in participants from more physically demanding occupations. The study findings contribute to evidence that obese people are discriminated against in the hiring process and support calls for policy development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:32:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f6f1b336b93e4b6d977f2ada9df6ee62 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:32:05Z |
| publishDate | 2016-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f6f1b336b93e4b6d977f2ada9df6ee622022-12-22T02:44:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-05-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.00647181766Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired!Stuart William Flint0Stuart William Flint1Martin eČadek2Sonia eCodreanu3Vanja eIvić4Colene eZomer5Amalia eGomoiu6Sheffield Hallam UniversitySheffield Hallam UniversityCharles UniversityUniversity of BathUniversity of MariborUniversity of AmsterdamUniversity of RadboudPrevious literature reports that obese persons are discriminated in the workplace. Evidence suggests that obese people are perceived as having less leadership potential, and in comparison to normal weight peers, are expected to be less successful. This study examined whether obese people are discriminated against when applying for employment. Three hypotheses were offered in line with previous research: 1) obese people are less likely to be assessed positively on personnel suitability than normal weight people; 2) obese people in active employment are more likely to be discriminated against than people in non-active employment; and 3) obese women are more likely to be discriminated against than obese men. 181 Participants were sampled from sedentary, standing, manual and heavy manual occupations. Participants rated hypothetical candidates on their suitability for employment. Employees also completed measures of implicit and explicit attitudes towards obesity. MANOVA was conducted to examine if obese candidates were discriminated against during the recruitment procedure. Results demonstrated that participants rated obese candidates as less suitable compared with normal weight candidates and when the weight status of the candidate was not revealed for work across the four workplace groups. Participant gender and weight status also impacted perceptions of candidates’ suitability for work and discrimination towards obese candidates was higher in participants from more physically demanding occupations. The study findings contribute to evidence that obese people are discriminated against in the hiring process and support calls for policy development.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00647/fullObesityWorkplaceDiscriminationImplicitexplicit |
| spellingShingle | Stuart William Flint Stuart William Flint Martin eČadek Sonia eCodreanu Vanja eIvić Colene eZomer Amalia eGomoiu Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired! Frontiers in Psychology Obesity Workplace Discrimination Implicit explicit |
| title | Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired! |
| title_full | Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired! |
| title_fullStr | Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired! |
| title_full_unstemmed | Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired! |
| title_short | Obesity discrimination in the recruitment process: You’re not Hired! |
| title_sort | obesity discrimination in the recruitment process you re not hired |
| topic | Obesity Workplace Discrimination Implicit explicit |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00647/full |
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