The Role of Accountability in Suppressing Managers' Preinterview Bias against African-American Sales Job Applicants

In an experiment on preinterview racial bias, white sales managers evaluated the resume of either a white or African- American applicant for a sales position. Managers exhibited a preinterview racial bias, giving a more positive hiring recommendation for the white versus African-American applicant e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of personal selling & sales management Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 113 - 124
Main Authors Ford, Thomas E., Gambino, Frank, Lee, Hanjoon, Mayo, Edward, Ferguson, Mark A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 01.04.2004
M. E. Sharpe
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Accountability
African Americans
Bias
Employment practices
Management decisions
Marketing
Prejudices
Professional certification
Racial discrimination
Racism
Research biases
Resumes
Sales management
Sales managers
Social psychology
Stereotypes
Studies
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Summary:In an experiment on preinterview racial bias, white sales managers evaluated the resume of either a white or African- American applicant for a sales position. Managers exhibited a preinterview racial bias, giving a more positive hiring recommendation for the white versus African-American applicant even though their resumes were exactly the same. However, when managers felt accountable to others for their evaluations, they suppressed racial bias by evaluating the African-American's credentials more positively. Our experiment identifies a condition under which preinterview racial bias against African-American sales applicants may be attenuated and delineates a strategy by which managers may overcome preinterview racial bias.
ISSN:0885-3134
1557-7813
DOI:10.1080/08853134.2004.10749023