Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Obesity, Attractiveness, and Differential Treatment in Hiring: A Field Experiment

Obesity, Attractiveness, and Differential Treatment in Hiring: A Field Experiment Abstract: This study presents evidence of differential treatment in the hiring of obese individuals in the Swedish labor market. Fictitious applications were sent to real job openings. The applications were sent in pairs, where one facial photo of an otherwise identical applicant was manipulated to show the individual as obese. Applications sent with the weight-manipulated photo had a significantly lower callback response for an interview: Six percentage points lower for men and eight percentage points lower for women. This differential treatment occurs differently for men and women: The results for men are driven by attractiveness, while the results for women are driven by obesity. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Human Resources University of Wisconsin Press

Obesity, Attractiveness, and Differential Treatment in Hiring: A Field Experiment

Journal of Human Resources , Volume 44 (3) – Apr 4, 2009

Loading next page...
1
 
/lp/university-of-wisconsin-press/obesity-attractiveness-and-differential-treatment-in-hiring-a-field-UXNPP9xEqS

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
University of Wisconsin Press
Copyright
Copyright © University of Wisconsin Press
ISSN
1548-8004
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract: This study presents evidence of differential treatment in the hiring of obese individuals in the Swedish labor market. Fictitious applications were sent to real job openings. The applications were sent in pairs, where one facial photo of an otherwise identical applicant was manipulated to show the individual as obese. Applications sent with the weight-manipulated photo had a significantly lower callback response for an interview: Six percentage points lower for men and eight percentage points lower for women. This differential treatment occurs differently for men and women: The results for men are driven by attractiveness, while the results for women are driven by obesity.

Journal

Journal of Human ResourcesUniversity of Wisconsin Press

Published: Apr 4, 2009

There are no references for this article.