The Effect of the Interview Structure on the Beauty Bias

This study investigated interview structure as a moderator of the relationship between the physical attractiveness of job applicants and two interview outcomes (suitability ratings and hiring recommendations). Each participant interviewed the same two job applicants. Half of the interviewers performed face-to-face structured interviews and the other half performed face-to-face unstructured interviews. Interview structure was manipulated by randomly providing interviewers with either the Structured Interview Handout (Eight precise questions, job description, scoring criteria with possible answers, benchmark responses and candidate rating scale) or the Unstructured Interview Handout (Six topics to be covered, job description and candidate rating scale). The physical attractiveness of both job applicants was based on perceptions of the interviewers (facial features, body proportions and weight, posture and general appearance). The findings did show an interaction between physical attractiveness and interview structure. The study's contributions and limitations, along with directions for future research, are discussed.