Analysis of the Halo/Devil Effect in Physical Attractiveness Bias in Hiring - Essay Example

30 October Analysis of the Halo/Devil Effect in “Physical Attractiveness Bias in Hiring: What Is Beautiful Is Good” by Comila Shahani-Denning Attractiveness is traditionally thought of as a plus point in almost all fields including education and hiring in several occupations linked with media. Attractive people are generally preferred over the unattractive ones even in jobs in which the employees have very limited encounter with the customers. Nevertheless, the devil effect overpowers the halo effect for the women when the job becomes male-gender specific.

Many people particularly women are not aware of the fact that their attractiveness counts as a negative feature while they are applying for a post. (Shahani-Denning) says that while attractiveness can sometimes be unwelcoming for a woman in the job, it happens to be one of the virtues for the males, them being the stronger gender. In the conventional male dominated society, where a vast majority of the jobs are male-oriented, men who look good are privileged as compared to others that are not.

On the other hand, attractive women are thought of as a distraction in the traditionally male jobs. Managers tend to prefer unattractive women over those who are attractive because the former are less feminine in their looks as compared to the latter. In addition to that, women attractive women are hired, the managers are likely to encounter more cases of harassment in the workplace. Attractive people are generally held accountable for mistakes that unattractive people are excused for. Therefore, in an attempt to avoid all these unfavorable circumstances, managers tend to see attraction as a weakness of the female candidates in the traditionally male jobs.

However, in the jobs that are traditionally meant for women, like teaching and nursing, attractive women certain have an edge over the unattractive women. Most of the research conducted to evaluate the effect of attractiveness on the tendency of a candidate to be selected has occurred in the West. In order to make the results applicable upon a larger population, it is imperative that similar studies are conducted in the collectivist cultures as well. Few studies that have been conducted have conventionally shown a support of the collectivist cultures for the physical attractiveness.

Concluding, the laboratory research has shown that while the halo effect almost always sustains for the men, recruiters and managers place more emphasis upon the devil effect when they have to recruit women for the traditionally male jobs. On the contrary, female employees are also evaluated according to the halo effect in the traditionally female jobs. Nevertheless, the laboratory research has certain limitations like lack of face-to-face interviews, study of limited sample and the evaluation of hypothetical instead of real applicants which inculcate subjectivity in the findings.

The hiring literature suggests that during the evaluation, interviewers generally show more inclination towards the “beautiful is good” than the “beauty is beastly” notion. Therefore, the devil effect is traditionally limited to the consideration of women for traditionally male jobs whereas the halo effect has a wider application i.e. for men applying for all kinds of jobs and for women who apply for the traditionally female jobs. Analysis of the Halo/Devil Effect in the Film Broadcast News The film, Broadcast News emphasizes upon the way Jane Craig’s positive perception of attractiveness makes her biased in her evaluation of Tom Grunnick.

Jane Craig happens to be an ambitious producer who lacks a partner in her life. Aaron Altman is a wonderful reporter but lacks good looks. Tom Grunnick, on the other hand, is just a regional newscaster who can neither write the news nor is able to perceive the depth of the cases he reports. Although Tom Grunnick is not as talented as Aaron Altman, yet Jane Craig is driven crazy by the visual charm of Tom Grunnick. The orientation of the network towards the entertainment provides Tom Grunnick with an edge over Aaron Altman.

It forms a love triangle when Aaron Altman also loves Jane Craig. The film is about how each of the three characters deals with his/her personal feelings as well as those of the others while concentrating upon their values and careers as well. Jane Craig has no other reason to love Tom Grunnick but the fact that he looks good. This speaks of her obsession with the halo effect in her analysis of people. To her, Tom Grunnick can make a wonderful life partner because she perceives him to have various other good qualities like compatibility, sensibility and cooperation and such other traits that a woman looks for in her husband.

Works Cited: Shahani-Denning, Comila. “Physical Attractiveness Bias in Hiring: What Is Beautiful Is Good.” N.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. .