Beyond the Background: Exploring the Influence of Socioeconomic Status in Asynchronous Video Interviews

Abstract

Asynchronous Video Interviews (AVIs) have revolutionized the hiring process, offering flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and convenience to both organizations and job applicants. While recent studies have highlighted the potential for background cues in AVIs to inadvertently disclose non-job-related information about job applicants, researchers have yet to explore this with socioeconomic status (SES). This study investigates whether AVIs might reveal cues about an applicant’s SES, which might remain concealed during face-to-face interviews, thereby potentially introducing unique biases in the hiring process. We determined if evaluators could discern SES differences based on a job applicant’s background and whether these cues influenced the perceived hireability of the job applicant. To enhance the realism of our findings and understand when such biases may be exacerbated, we simulated the conditions a hiring manager might face by inducing cognitive load (CL). In a sample of N = 300 American Cloud Research Connect participants, we used a 2 (low; high SES) by 2 (low; high CL) between-subjects experimental design. We found that although evaluators could identify differences in SES and did experience a difference in CL, these two factors did not directly influence the perceived hireability of the job applicant. However, contrary to our expectations, evaluators under significant CL took longer to decide on a job applicant’s suitability. Furthermore, we also investigated the role of evaluators’ characteristics, such as their own SES, attitude towards poverty (ATP), and social dominance orientation (SDO). Although these did not directly influence their ratings of the job applicant, we identified noteworthy correlations: participants’ perceptions of the SES from the background correlated with the job applicant’s a) perceived hireability, b) perceived SES, and c) perceived competence. These findings emphasize the need for further research into the subtle cues evaluators might use to gauge SES, which could impact a job applicant’s AVI evaluation.