Elżbieta Stojanowska
Department of Psychology, University of Finances and Management, Warsaw
Abstract:
Candidates for jobs usually present themselves to potential employers by writing their CVs and by emphasizing their strong sides. This study investigated the extent to which modest or boastful, stereotype-consistent or stereotype-inconsistent self-presentations of male and female candidates are effective and create a favorable impression upon potential decision makers. Participants were males and females, differing in their professional experience: students vs. persons employed in stereotype-consistent i.e. feminine or masculine, or gender neutral jobs. Participants were asked to judge attractiveness and usefulness for a position of a manager of male and female candidates who presented themselves either in the boastful or in the modest way and who emphasized either their competences or interpersonal skills. Both age and gender of participants affected their judgments. students showed a stronger tendency than employed persons to judge the prospective managers on the basis of stereotypical traits, and women judged a female who boasted in the instrumental area as less suitable for the role of manager than men did. Candidates who were boastful in the interpersonal area were selected for the role of manager more often than those who were boastful in the instrumental area, and this was independent of the sex and age of participants.
Keywords: self-presentation, gender, interpersonal attractiveness, work
Cite this article as:
Stojanowska, E. (2008). Judging candidates for managers on the basis of their self-presentations: role of stereotypicality, content of self-presentation, and modesty. Psychologia Społeczna, 7, 151-166.