Browsing by Author "Francis, Phabiana"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The effect of physical attractiveness on hiring decision making in the context of Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2010) Francis, Phabiana
    The purpose of this study was to examine whether an applicant’s physical attractiveness had any significant effect on interviewers’ hiring decision. While specific objectives included; examining participants’ view on what constitute physical attractiveness in the context of Tanzania, to investigate in which categories of occupations physical attractiveness is a relevant factor in job searching, to investigate whether physical attractiveness attribute has any significant effect on employer’s decision to hire or not to hire, to assess sex differences in the effect of physical attractiveness on decision making in employment settings. To achieve the study purpose and objectives, a mixed approach was used. Four focus group discussions, each with 12 participants were conducted with postgraduate students from the University of Dar es salaam to capture the understanding of the concept of physical attractiveness in the context of Tanzania. A purposive sampling was used to get 37 photographs of people on the street based on the criteria for attractiveness as described by participants during the focus group discussions. The photographs were then subjected to 19 undergraduate students from the University of Dar es salaam for rating them on a 3-point attractiveness scale which indicated attractive, undecided and/or unattractive options. An experimental design was conducted to test the hypothesis that attractive applicants are more likely to be hired than unattractive ones. Participants for this experiment involved 160 undergraduate students from the University of Dar es salaam who were obtained through simple random sampling. A total of 8 applicants’ resumes each one attached with an applicant’s photograph plus a job for the position of Administrative Officer were reviewed by the undergraduate students who acted as interviewers who were then required to select only 3 out of the 8 applicants that they would consider for hiring. Manipulation of the variables was done via Between-subject-design. Chi Square test was conducted to examine whether the difference in the selection between participants in the experimental and control groups were statistically significant. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the selection between participants in the experimental and control group: X2 (160, 1) =85.07, p<.00005, with a large effect size (Phi=.7.3).The implication is that, participants in the control group focused more on the content of the applicants’ resumes while those in the experimental group paid more attention to the applicant’s physical attractiveness than other qualities. Therefore, it is recommended that employers should stick on the required qualities of the applicants rather than applicants’ physical attractiveness. The conclusion derived from this study is that though there is a cultural difference in the definition of who is attractive or not attractive, physical attractiveness bribes people’s decision in areas of employment settings across cultural contexts.