The Influence of Applicant Sexual Orientation, Applicant Gender, and Rater Gender on Ascribed Attributions and Hiring Recommendations of Personal Trainers

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of job applicant sexual orientation on subsequent evaluations and hiring recommendations. Data were gathered from 106 students (48 men, 57 women) who participated in a 2 (applicant sexual orientation: heterosexual, sexual minority) × 2 (rater gender: female, male) × 2 (applicant gender: female, male) experiment related to the hiring of a personal trainer for a fitness organization. Analysis of variance indicated that sexual minority job applicants received poorer evaluations than did heterosexuals. These effects were moderated by the rater gender, as men provided harsher ratings of sexual minorities than did women. Finally, applicant ratings were reliably related to hiring recommendations. Results are discussed in terms of contributions to the literature, limitations, and future directions.