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Better Sexy than Flexy? A Lab Experiment Assessing the Impact of Perceived Attractiveness and Personality Traits on Hiring Decisions

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  • Baert, Stijn

    (Ghent University)

  • Decuypere, Lynn

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

In this letter we present a laboratory experiment to assess the relative and independent effect of perceived attractiveness and personality traits on hiring decisions. Our results indicate that attractiveness and conscientiousness, followed by emotional stability, are important drivers of recruiters' decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Baert, Stijn & Decuypere, Lynn, 2013. "Better Sexy than Flexy? A Lab Experiment Assessing the Impact of Perceived Attractiveness and Personality Traits on Hiring Decisions," IZA Discussion Papers 7847, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7847
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chang, Hung-Hao & Weng, Yungho, 2012. "What is more important for prostitute price? Physical appearance or risky sex behavior?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 480-483.
    2. Christian Pfeifer, 2012. "Physical attractiveness, employment and earnings," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(6), pages 505-510, April.
    3. Hamermesh, Daniel S & Biddle, Jeff E, 1994. "Beauty and the Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1174-1194, December.
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    8. Samuel Cameron & Alan Collins, 1999. "Looks unimportant? A demand function for male attractiveness by female personal advertisers," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(6), pages 381-384.
    9. Gerrit Mueller & Erik Plug, 2006. "Estimating the Effect of Personality on Male and Female Earnings," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(1), pages 3-22, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Evangelos Mourelatos & Nicholas Giannakopoulos & Manolis Tzagarakis, 2022. "Personality traits and performance in online labour markets," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 468-484, February.
    2. Pieper, Marco & Schulze, Günther G., 2024. "Performance and beauty in sports ̶on the market value and popularity of European female soccer players," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 309-324.
    3. Baert, Stijn, 2015. "Do They Find You on Facebook? Facebook Profile Picture and Hiring Chances," IZA Discussion Papers 9584, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Katarzyna Wojtaszczyk & Marzena Syper-Jędrzejak, 2022. "Erotic capital and its role in the assessment of candidates and employees: scale development and validation," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 49(4), pages 395-413, December.
    5. Philippe Sterkens & Ralf Caers & Marijke De Couck & Victor Van Driessche & Michael Geamanu & Stijn Baert, 2023. "Costly mistakes: Why and when spelling errors in resumes jeopardise interview chances," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(4), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Peter Hoeschler & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2017. "The Relative Importance of Personal Characteristics for the Hiring of Young Workers," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0142, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW), revised Jan 2018.
    7. Balcar, Jiří, 2021. "Non-cognitive skills matter, beauty not that much: Evidence from hiring technicians," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 26(1), pages 44-72.
    8. Mourelatos, Evangelos, 2023. "Does Mood affect Sexual and Gender Discrimination in Hiring Choices? Evidence from Online Experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    9. Baert, Stijn & Herregods, Jolien & Sterkens, Philippe, 2024. "What does job applicants’ body art signal to employers?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 742-755.
    10. Balafoutas, Loukas & Fornwagner, Helena & Grosskopf, Brit, 2023. "Predictably competitive? What faces can tell us about competitive behavior," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 931-940.
    11. Alexi Gugushvili & Grzegorz Bulczak, 2023. "Physical attractiveness and intergenerational social mobility," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 104(7), pages 1360-1382, December.
    12. Jeremy Rosen & Alexandre Olbrecht, 2020. "Data‐Driven Drafting: Applying Econometrics To Employ Quarterbacks," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(2), pages 313-326, April.
    13. Moens, Eline & De Pessemier, Dyllis & Baert, Stijn, 2025. "How do recruiters assess applicants who express a political engagement?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Weichselbaumer, Doris & Schuster, Julia, 2021. "The Effect of Photos and a Local-Sounding Name on Discrimination against Ethnic Minorities in Austria," IZA Discussion Papers 14495, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    hiring discrimination; economics of personality; economics of beauty; lab experiments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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