In the effort to save time and money on selecting the best candidate, companies have been increasingly turning to new technologies for conducting interviews. However, the amount of social information that can be exchanged via phone or text is low, so some companies have experimented with the use of online avatars during computer-mediated interviews to help humanize these systems. But, do interviewers regard avatars similarly as real people, and do avatars elicit the same interviewer biases?
THE RESEARCH STUDY
Researchers in this study (Behrend et al., 2012) conducted a laboratory study where students were asked to view an avatar image while reading a typical interview transcript for a retail position. The authors wanted to see if manipulating the attractiveness or gender of the avatar had any impact on the perceived performance of the interviewee or the screening decision made by the participant.
The authors found that when the avatar was perceived as more attractive, the person it represented was perceived to have performed better and was more likely to be selected for the job. However, the match between the avatar’s gender to a stereotypical job of the same gender did not have an affect on this relationship.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
As in a real face-to-face interview, human interviewers are still biased by the physical attractiveness of the interviewee, even when the interviewee is artificial. As companies turn to using artificial avatars to assist online interactions with job candidates, customers, and team members, it is useful to note that the same biases are still at play. What’s more concerning is that unlike a face-to-face interaction, the user can manipulate his or her avatar to an even greater extent to play to these biases—an important point to note when using these avatars in a selection context.
Behrend, T., Toaddy, S., Thompson, L. F., & Sharek, D. J. (2012). The effects of avatar appearance on interviewer ratings in virtual employment interviews. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2128–2133.
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