Abstract
Candidate physical attractiveness, sex, and age, along with rater age and sex, are assessed in terms of their ability to affect recommendations for promotions. Forty personnel professionals evaluated eight candidates for a regional manager position using simulated assessment center data in a 2x2x2 repeated measures design. Results indicated a small, favorable bias in favor of attractive candidates, consistent with prior research. Applicant sex, applicant age, and rater sex were unrelated to recommendations, but rater age explained 14% to 21% of the variance in three recommendation ratings. Younger raters were observed to be more lenient. In addition, some small interactions effects were detected. Continued research on physical attractiveness and rater characteristics is advocated on grounds that even small effects may be substantively significant when the number of qualified applicants exceeds positions available.
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