Impression Management in the Job Interview

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the ways in which knowledge of a male interviewer's stereotyped beliefs about women would influence the behavior of female job applicants. In a two-cell design, female applicants were interviewed by a male confederate whose stereotype of the ideal female applicant conformed closely either to the traditional female stereotype or its opposite. The results indicated that applicants did present themselves in a more traditionally `feminine" manner when they knew the interviewer held traditional views of women. Interestingly, this pattern of results held not only for verbal and nonverbal measures but also for measures of physical appearance.