Ethics of Hiring Based on Appearance The good and evil of beauty dates back to the bible. Beauty can be a blessing or a temptress of evil, but it is a desirable fact of life. Whether an employer selects and individual based on their aesthetically desirable appearance is a discretionary decision well within the law, regardless of its ethical controversy. It is difficult to make a negative claim against any person or organization who favors physical attractiveness in an environment where we are raised and surrounded by physical aesthetics and it is our human nature. The ethical character of hiring someone based on physical appearance is subjective and a common practice. However, it is also a curious phenomenon. There has been significant …show more content…
There are no laws which prevent employers from selecting individuals who are more aesthetically attractive than those who are less aesthetically attractive unless the decision is based on age, race, color, gender or any part of the protected class. In fact, some employers believe there should laws which give employers more discretion on hiring based on physical appearance (James, 2008). Additionally, the concept of good first impressions is highly accepted. Individuals respond to this concept by making themselves more physically attractive. Corbett (2007) implies if we create laws which prevent discrimination based on features which individuals are born with, such as physical attractiveness, then perhaps follow-on laws will prevent discrimination based on other features such as intellect. This would not make sense, since intellect is another measure of quality in human capital (Corbett, 2007; Sinha & Thaly, 2013). Another issue from both a legal and ethical perspective is the ability to categorize physical attractiveness into something which can be defined objectively. Physical attractiveness can define someone who dresses well or someone who doesn't have tattoos, both of which are characteristics of personal choice (James, 2008). Furthermore, employers and employees should both take responsibility for their
In the society we all live in today, where outside beauty is emphasized more than inner beauty, businesses have realized how to utilize that view to their own benefit They have looked at trends and realized that it is profitable to hire those with outer beauty. However, since certain businesses are only hiring certain ethnicities in order to project that image, it has been questioned whether these businesses are discriminating. In the article, Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination, it says that " hiring attractive people is not necessarily illegal, but discriminating on the basis of age, sex, and ethnicity is." The companies cannot help it that only certain types of people fit their marketing image and their hiring strategies are
Today’s jobseeker has tough competition. In our text book readings “Judging by the Cover” (657-658), Bonny Gainley begins the argument of the paper by stating that job seekers must be careful when they make personal choices that initially will affect their chances of entering the workplace. People have a need to be accepted by others just the way they are, in the same way people continue to say, “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, yet people do based solely on their personal appearances. That goes for businesses as well, “[t]he bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. Whether it seems fair or not, most employers do care about the personal appearances of the people they hire because those people represent the business to its customers”.
“Judging by the Cover,” is an essay written in 2003 by Bonny Gainley who is a consultant, speaker, and author. It originally appeared in an opinion column in a Colorado newspaper. Although non-discriminatory, she believes that people project messages about themselves with their appearance. This essay seems to be intended for recent graduates and young job seekers. The main point that she tries to explain to the reader is that even though our family and friends may accept us for who we are, employers may not.
In the article “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination” Steven Greenhouse explains how most companies hire people only for their appearance but not for their experience. The author first presents the problem of how a young girl described as having “long blonde hair, being 5ft 6 and striking” is mainly the description of someone a clothing store is looking for. Next, Greenhouse addresses how clothing store workers approach people, mainly for their appearance rather than asking them if they need help. Then, the author brings out Mr. Serrano, who used to work in the clothing area. Interviewers state that the managers such as Serrano has a recruiting process that many uses.
I agree that there could be issues or risks if the individual isn't gained militarily prior to the PCS and/or transfer effective date, because anything could go wrong. Therefore, I believe the wing/unit should ensure that all documents regarding the prospective employee are completed and submitted with the hire (transfer) packet, to include military orders placing them in a CNG unit of assignment. That would be considered a "healthy hire packet".
The stores attracted customers with “physical attractiveness” of the store employees and quite clearly there is an argument of unconscious bias in the practice of hiring employees based on physical attractiveness as considered by Shahani-Denning (2003) in the study. Although numerous lawsuits under employment legislation were filed, most of them were based on conscious discrimination and quite interestingly there are no laws governing discriminatory practices under hiring based on “physical attractiveness”. However the brand image of Abercrombie and Fitch is dependent on the outward projection of physical appearance and hence there is a rationale for the argument of hiring physically attractive store staff to attract more
Hiring attractive people may help build business anyway it doesn’t change the way it can be exceptionally offending to a few people who need to a land a position in retail but can’t on the grounds that they don’t have the specific look. Appearance should not be the first priority when It comes to hiring it should be based on experience and good communication skills someone who knows what they’re doing instead of hiring someone who doesn’t know what
You have done a great job explaining this week’s assignment for The Abercrombie & Fitch case. I think this case is interesting for the reason that the company has a different approach on who they hire by using the “Look Policy.” Furthermore, your material on how Title VII regulations apply to this case is a good example of discrimination. In your discussion, you claim that companies have the freedom to what they choose with their company. Zakrzewski (2015), states that “hiring attractive people is a good marketing strategy-one that is likely to bring Abercrombie greater profits than hiring average-looking people” (p. 457). This statement is a good example of a company like Abercrombie choosing to do what they want by hiring good looking
Lookism can be described as prejudice against certain people based on their physical appearance. Traditionally, better looking individuals are more likely to land job opportunities and have more opportunities to move up in a company than their less attractive counterparts. Statistics also prove this point, a recent study conducted by economist Daniel Hamermesh found that better looking individuals did on average make much more money than those who were not considered attractive. Hamermesh concluded that “a good-looking man will earn, over his career, about $250,000 more than his least-attractive counterpart” (Rothschild). While researching this topic I was shocked to learn that discrimination of non attractive people in the workplace was illegal
Wolf discusses the effect that these standards are having on women in the workplace. A woman’s beauty, or lack of it, can be used against her. In 1986, Mechelle Vinson lost a sexual harassment case. “Vinson was young and ‘beautiful’ and carefully dressed. The district court ruled that her appearance counted against her.” (Wolf 38) “In Hopkins v. Price-Waterhouse, Ms. Hopkins was denied a partnership because she needed to learn to ‘walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely,’ and ‘wear makeup’.” She brought in more business than any other employee. (Wolf 39)
The Halo Effect is the cognitive bias that generalizes that if an individual has one outstanding favorable character trait, the rest of that individual’s trait will be favorable. Specific to physical attractiveness, this is known as the “Attractiveness Halo.” Attractiveness plays an important role in determining social interactions. In fact, the physical attractiveness of an individual is a vital social cue utilized by others to evaluate other aspects of that individual’s abilities (Kenealy, Frude, & Shaw, 2001). Because of the attractiveness halo, attractive applicants trying to enter the workforce tend to
1) This company will not discriminate in hiring practices or procedures based on race, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, age, gender, political affiliation, or country of origin.
Marshal Cohen, a senior industry analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm believes retailers that hire applicants based on their appearance is the smart thing to do and they see it as necessary. This method is old. Industries such as cocktail waitresses and strippers have always used it. But, many companies have taken this approach. Especially, retailers. Attractive employees attract customers, therefore they get bigger profits. Attractive people also make better salesmen. Hiring based on looks is really the only way to go because customers won’t bother shopping in a place that doesn’t grab their attention.
Overall people perceived as beautiful have more job opportunities as well as a higher chance for advancement in their carriers. A study was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Pembroke on the topic of the relationship between attractiveness of professors and the perceived quality of their teaching. What the study found out was a strong relationship between the two – “results indicated that as hotness ratings increased, so did ratings on overall quality, clarity, and helpfulness. Additionally, further analysis indicated that the greater the percentage of hotness ratings to overall ratings, the more likely that students rated the professors favorably.” Moreover research shows that attractive people perform better when interviewed. An interesting fact is
A major contribution of this article is that it paves the way for future experiments and empirical studies. The conclusion presented on premia and penalties associated with looks in the article reflect the effect of beauty in all its characteristics, not just one of its many components, such as height, weight, or facial appearance. Future experiment and empirical studies can be built on the layout or techniques presented by this article and can be focused on examining the source of wage differentials and possible discrimination due to a specific characteristic of beauty or various other dimensions such as physical and mental disabilities. Same experiment can also be conducted on data from economies outside of North America to check whether the same premia and penalties of looks exist in other economies.