Model applicants: The effect of facial appearance on recruitment decisions

The fact that attractiveness is associated with goodness has dominated the literature on first impressions over the last few decades. However, one sit uation that has been largely ignored is the recruitment setting. While evid ence suggests that attractiveness is an asset, little research has addresse d the possible disadvantage of having a disfigured face. In this study, per ceptions of personal qualities and job skills were obtained from both stude nts and recruitment personnel in response to a mock job applicant who had e ither no disfigurement, a facial disfigurement, a physical disability or bo th. The results indicated a marked negative perception of the applicant wit h the facial disfigurement but no main effect of a physical disability, for both personal qualities and job skills. In addition, analysis of the recru itment decisions of the students suggested that while the possession of a p hysical disability significantly reduced the chances of being selected, the possession of a facial disfigurement had a far greater negative impact. Co mparison across students and recruiters suggested that recruitment experien ce did offset this bias somewhat, and the results are discussed in terms of both a theoretical understanding of the reactions to disability and the po ssibilities for re-education in the workplace.