Effects of disability, gender, and job level on ratings of job applicants

Objective: To examine the effects of applicant disability, gender, and job level on ratings of job applicants. Design and Participants: Full-time work ers (n = 88) and undergraduates (n = 98) provided ratings of hypothetical j ob applicants who differed on the 3 factors of interest. Measures: Job appl icants were evaluated on the basis of competence, overall recommendation, p otency, activity, and starting salary. Results: Applicants with disabilitie s were generally rated significantly higher in activity and potency than th e applicant without a disability. Additional analyses revealed a significan t Gender X Job Level interaction for applicants with a disability. Conclusi ons: Consistent with D. T. Wegener and R. E. Petty's (1997) flexible correc tion model, the results of this study suggest that evaluations of job appli cants with disabilities may depend on the amount of cognitive resources rat ers have available at the time the evaluations are made.