Date of Award
5-1-2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Research demonstrates that there are several characteristics that could render someone an underdog as a job applicant, including gender, race, able-bodied or disabled, immigrant status, and age. Study 1 used a between-subjects design to examine support for the underdog and the top dog in a low-consequence and high-consequence scenario. The underdog was given more support in low-consequence than high-consequence scenarios, but most participants indicated a neutral response instead of offering more support for either when asked to choose between the two applicants. Study 2 employed a forced-choice task on SuperLab in which participants chose which applicant they would hire in low- and high-consequence scenarios. Although results of Study 2 were not significant, there was a slight trend in which underdogs were chosen more often in low-consequence than high-consequence scenarios. A general discussion follows the description of both studies, including implications of these two studies and potential for future research on the underdog.
Recommended Citation
Place, Maggie, "Social perceptions of underdog job applicants" (2008). Honors Theses. 576.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/576