No ‘Pretty’ Please at Work: Studying Effect of Gender and Physical Attractiveness on Resume Evaluation

Recruitment and selection of effective talent has become a necessity for sustainable organizational growth. The present study aimed to study the effect of the gender and physical attractiveness of the applicant on evaluation of resumes using 2×2 factorial design (gender × attractiveness). A sample of 111 male college students rated four (2 males and 2 females) similar resumes on three-item, 7-point hire ability scale adapted from Rudman and Glick (2001) for the position of research analyst. Each resume was accompanied by a photograph such that the resumes were classified as that of attractive male, unattractive male, attractive female, unattractive female and attractive female. Results from two way ANOVA and t test for dependent samples found no significant main effect of gender (F (1, 110) = 0.92, p>0.05) or attractiveness (F(1, 110) = 0.23, p>0.05) but a significant interaction effect (F (1,110) = 10.40, p<0.05) between gender and attractiveness, with unattractive female preferred most for the job. This shows a ‘Beauty is beastly' effect in the present sample.