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Publication Date

Fall 2012

Degree Type

Thesis - Campus Access Only

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Howard Tokunaga

Keywords

Hiring, Hiring Decisions, Selection and Facebook, Social Networking

Subject Areas

Psychology

Abstract

Use of Facebook® to review candidates during the hiring selection process is becoming increasing popular amongst employers. Consequently, it is useful to understand which particular characteristics of these profiles influence selection decisions. This research used a policy-capturing approach to explore whether job-relevant (work comments and grammar) or job-irrelevant (profile gender and number of friends) characteristics have a greater influence on the likelihood of getting the job offer and recommended salary. The results indicated that job-relevant Facebook characteristics were positively correlated and made the most contribution to the prediction of the likelihood of the job offer and the recommended salary. However, the job-irrelevant characteristic, profile gender, had a significant interaction effect with the job-relevant characteristics. For the likelihood of getting the job offer and recommended salary, women were less penalized than were men for negative work comments and poor grammar. Given the findings of this study, organizations need to be aware that although job-relevant characteristics are given the largest weight when Facebook profiles are reviewed, job-irrelevant characteristics may also influence how applicants are evaluated.

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