An Experimental Investigation of Weight Bias in Employment Assessments Using Professional Social Media Sites (PSMS)

Past research has demonstrated that bias against overweight individuals adversely affects employment, particularly at the recruitment and hiring phase and especially for women. The common use of professional social media sites (PSMS) such as LinkedIn™ for recruitment and pre-interview review of applicants is a concern due to the prominent placement of profile photos at the top of the social media page. However, the effect of weight bias on applicant assessment using PSMS has not been experimentally evaluated in published research. Two unpublished papers did not find evidence for weight bias, but reported limitations such as use of a student participant sample and use of different overweight versus non-overweight individuals in the photos. The present study used an experimental design that addressed these limitations. A professional sample with regular involvement in recruitment and hiring were randomly assigned to view a PSMS mock-up of male or female applicants with identical qualifications for a marketing manager position. Photos of the non-overweight male and female applicants were edited to appear overweight. Viewing time was also altered across conditions to assess implicit bias in the briefer viewing condition, resulting in a 2 (overweight, non-overweight) x 2 (male applicant, female applicant) x 2 (30 s, 60 s) between-groups design. After reviewing the job description, then the applicant’s PSMS, participants completed employment-related ratings. A modified version of the Obese Person’s Trait Survey was used to assess participants’ application of typical overweight stereotypes to the applicant. Results did not support the expected weight bias, or a gendered weight bias, nor did the overweight applicants appear to be ascribed stereotypical traits. Although replication is needed, results indicate that historical weight bias has either diminished since earlier research or is not manifested in the context of PSMS.