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Automatically Activated Stereotypes and Differential Treatment Against the Obese in Hiring

Author

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  • Rooth, Dan-Olof

    (Stockholm University)

Abstract

This study provides empirical support for automatically activated associations inducing unequal treatment against the obese among recruiters in a real-life hiring situation. A field experiment on differential treatment against obese job applicants in hiring is combined with a measure of employers' automatic/implicit performance stereotype toward obese relative to normal weight using the implicit association test. We find a strong and statistically significant obesity difference in the correlation between the automatic stereotype of obese as being less productive and the callback rate for an interview. This suggests that automatic processes may exert a significant impact on employers' hiring decisions, offering new insights into labor market discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2008. "Automatically Activated Stereotypes and Differential Treatment Against the Obese in Hiring," IZA Discussion Papers 3799, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3799
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    Cited by:

    1. Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2010. "Automatic associations and discrimination in hiring: Real world evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 523-534, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    implicit stereotypes; obese job applicants; differential treatment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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