Nondiscriminatory Questions

Janet Galloway
Professional Interviewing
October 13, 2011

Effects of Discriminatory Interview Questions and Gender on Applicant Reactions
Saks, Alan, and Julie McCarthy. 08/18/2010. "Effects of discriminatory Interview Questions and Gender on Applicant Reactions." Journal of Business and Psychology. 21.2 (2010): 175-191.
Summary: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of discriminatory interview questions on job applicant's reactions, perceptions, and job pursuit intentions (176). In the process of searching for a new job, we all go through the interview process. There have been many laws written on what questions may or may not be asked. Even with these laws in place, many employers are not clear on what is and
is not legal to ask during an interview. “McShulskis (1997) found that 100% of respondents indicated that they would ask at least one of five illegal interview questions (176).” This study attempts to break down the reactions of interviewees to such discriminatory questions. The hypothesis of this study is “that job applicant reactions, perceptions, and intentions toward the organization will be adversely affected by discriminatory questions during the employment interview (177). Previous studies have also shown that the gender of the interviewer had an effect on the attractiveness of organizations (177). When the interviewer was female “applicants perceived the organization as less attractive (177).” It also strives to show the correlation between the gender of the interviewer and interviewee on the overall reaction to the interview (178). The method used in this study was to conduct mock interviews with three different groups. Each group had 10 questions, with two of the group’s questions containing discriminatory questions. After the mock interviews, a survey was taken to gauge the reactions of the participants to the questions, the interviewer and the overall experience.
The result of this study in regards to the reactions to discriminatory questions was not surprising; it simply confirmed common sense. Those who were asked more discriminatory questions in the mock interviews perceived the organization to be a more negative, or less attractive, company. This perception affected the intentions of applicants to pursue employment, accept a job offer, and recommend the organization (175). The results of this study in regards to the gender of the interviewer supported previous studies that suggested “the female interviewer resulted in lower ratings of organizational attractiveness, intention to pursue employment and accept a job offer” (184).

Method: The participants in this study were 116 masters of business students (178).
The study was conducted with a role playing exercise to simulate the job interview experience as closely as possible (179). The participants were split into three groups. Each group would be asked ten questions. The control group was given ten nondiscriminatory questions. The second group was given two discriminatory questions, and eight nondiscriminatory questions. The third group was given four discriminatory questions and six nondiscriminatory questions. The participants were given information on a fictitious company and told that this company was hiring in several departments (180). Participants were then interviewed by a human resource manager, some by a female human resource manager others by a male (180). Upon completion of their mock interview, “participants were asked to respond to each item using a 7-point Likert scale ranging from, (1) strongly disagree, to (7) strongly agree
(180).”

Discussion: The primary conclusions confirmed that the reaction to the interview and the interviewer who asked more discriminatory questions was more negative.
The treatment of employees was viewed more negatively by the group that had more discriminatory questions, while the view of the treatment of employees remained similar in the other two groups. The results “revealed that ratings for reactions to the interview, intention to recommend the organization, and intention to pursue employment were significantly greater for the control group compared to the group with four discriminatory questions (p < .05). The ratings for the reaction to the interviewer and the organization's treatment of its employees were greater for the control group and the group with two discriminatory questions compared to the group with four discriminatory questions (p < .05). For job acceptance intention, the ratings of the control group were significantly higher than both of the discriminatory question conditions (p < .05)” (183). This confirms common sense, that the more discriminatory questions are asked, the more negative effect it will have on the interview.
The results on the gender issue were surprising to me. “The results for interviewer gender revealed that the attractiveness of the organization, intention to pursue employment, and job acceptance intention were higher when the interviewer was male (p < .05)” (184). This confirms other research done in this area, however leaves
me wondering why our society has this perspective. This study also suggests that more training should be done to inform interviewers on the legalities of questions being asked during an interview (187).

Questions * If you were being interviewed for a position in a company that you found highly desirable, would you overlook discriminatory questions during the interview? * This study found that most participants were willing to overlook a couple of discriminatory questions, but that a negative reaction to the interview greatly increased when there were four discriminatory questions. Would the number of discriminatory questions in the interview matter or is even one discriminatory question enough to leave a negative impression? * The discriminatory questions in this study focused on age, handicaps, family, and prior convictions. How would you handle such questions in an interview? * Would you agree with the current studies that “have found that job applicants perceive organizations as less attractive when the inter viewer was female” (177)? Why or why not? * This study suggests that the best way to avoid discriminatory questions during an interview is to have standardized questions during each interview (187). Have you experienced such a ‘cookie cutter’ interview? Did you find it effective? If you were hiring future employees, would you use this method?