Managers’ selection preferences: The role of prejudice and multicultural personality traits in the assessment of native and immigrant job candidates

• Published in: Revue européenne de psychologie appliquée Vol. 63; no. 5; pp. 267 - 275
• Main Authors: Horverak, J.G, Sandal, G.M, Bye, H.H, Pallesen, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lisse Elsevier SAS 01-09-2013; Paris Centre de psychologie appliquée; Swets & Zeitlinger
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Compétence multiculturelle; Demandeurs d’emploi nés à l’étranger; Décision d’embauche; Employment decision; Foreign-born job candidates; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Internal Medicine; Multicultural competence; Occupational psychology; Orientation. Selection. Evaluation; Personality; Personnalité; Prejudice; Préjudice; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Norway; Europe; Décision d’embauche; Demandeurs d’emploi nés à l’étranger; Personnalité; Personality; Prejudice; Employment decision; Compétence multiculturelle; Foreign-born job candidates; Multicultural competence; Préjudice; Social environment; Human; Multiculturalism; Immigrant; Hiring; Manager; Occupational selection; Preference; Job seeker; Cultural environment; Professional evaluation
• ISSN: 1162-9088; 1878-3457
• DOI: 10.1016/j.erap.2013.07.003

Abstract Presentation Statistics across European countries show that immigrants have a disproportionate lower employment probability than persons born in the host country ( SOPEMI, 2010 ). Explanations to this phenomenon are complex. Objectives An experiment was conducted to investigate the relationship between multicultural personality traits and managers’ selection preferences in the hiring of native vs. foreign-born job candidates. We proposed that this relationship was mediated by prejudice. Methods Norwegian managers ( n = 222) were presented with one Turkish immigrant job candidate and two Norwegian-born, less qualified job candidates. The managers completed the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and the Blatant Prejudice Scale (SBPS). Results We found that the threat and rejection blatant prejudice subscale and Emotional stability predicted the managers’ hiring preferences. Specifically, the higher threat and rejection subscale scores and the lower emotional stability scores, the more likely it is that the managers preferred to hire a native, less qualified candidate over the Turkish immigrant candidate. The effect of emotional stability on candidate preference was not mediated by prejudice. Conclusions The results suggest that managers’ feelings of threat due to foreign-born immigrants’ participation in the host society (political conservatism), and threat due to intercultural interactions, are significantly related to foreign-born immigrant job candidates’ chances of being hired.