Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Testing for backlash in hiring: A field experiment on agency, communion and gender.

Carlsson, Rickard LU ; Agerström, Jens LU ; Björklund, Fredrik LU orcid ; Carlsson, Magnus and Rooth, Dan-Olof (2014) In Journal of Personnel Psychology 13(4). p.204-214
Abstract
Gender stereotypes describe women as communal and men as agentic. Laboratory-based research (Rudman & Glick, 1999, 2001) suggests that trying to disconfirm such descriptive gender stereotypes (e.g., women self-promoting their agency), entails the risk of hiring

discrimination due to violation of prescriptive gender stereotypes: a backlash. To examine whether backlash occurs when applying for real jobs, we conducted a field experiment. Gender, agency, and communion were manipulated in the personal profile of 5,562 applications sent to 3,342 job openings on the Swedish labor market. The dependent variable was whether the application resulted in an invitation to a job interview or not. The results do not offer any support for the... (More)
Gender stereotypes describe women as communal and men as agentic. Laboratory-based research (Rudman & Glick, 1999, 2001) suggests that trying to disconfirm such descriptive gender stereotypes (e.g., women self-promoting their agency), entails the risk of hiring

discrimination due to violation of prescriptive gender stereotypes: a backlash. To examine whether backlash occurs when applying for real jobs, we conducted a field experiment. Gender, agency, and communion were manipulated in the personal profile of 5,562 applications sent to 3,342 job openings on the Swedish labor market. The dependent variable was whether the application resulted in an invitation to a job interview or not. The results do not offer any support for the backlash hypothesis at this stage in the recruitment process. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
communion, gender stereotypes, agency, norms, discrimination, backlash, hiring
in
Journal of Personnel Psychology
volume
13
issue
4
pages
204 - 214
publisher
Hogrefe & Huber Publishers
external identifiers
  • wos:000348056200006
  • scopus:84924508781
ISSN
2190-5150
DOI
10.1027/1866-5888/a000126
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e62d1f95-552f-4435-857e-cf70b9d276aa (old id 4529803)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:11:41
date last changed
2022-04-12 21:11:49
@article{e62d1f95-552f-4435-857e-cf70b9d276aa,
  abstract     = {{Gender stereotypes describe women as communal and men as agentic. Laboratory-based research (Rudman &amp; Glick, 1999, 2001) suggests that trying to disconfirm such descriptive gender stereotypes (e.g., women self-promoting their agency), entails the risk of hiring<br/><br>
discrimination due to violation of prescriptive gender stereotypes: a backlash. To examine whether backlash occurs when applying for real jobs, we conducted a field experiment. Gender, agency, and communion were manipulated in the personal profile of 5,562 applications sent to 3,342 job openings on the Swedish labor market. The dependent variable was whether the application resulted in an invitation to a job interview or not. The results do not offer any support for the backlash hypothesis at this stage in the recruitment process.}},
  author       = {{Carlsson, Rickard and Agerström, Jens and Björklund, Fredrik and Carlsson, Magnus and Rooth, Dan-Olof}},
  issn         = {{2190-5150}},
  keywords     = {{communion; gender stereotypes; agency; norms; discrimination; backlash; hiring}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{204--214}},
  publisher    = {{Hogrefe & Huber Publishers}},
  series       = {{Journal of Personnel Psychology}},
  title        = {{Testing for backlash in hiring: A field experiment on agency, communion and gender.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000126}},
  doi          = {{10.1027/1866-5888/a000126}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}