Beard Liberation Front
Media Release 20th October
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
Legislation called for as new study shows employers less keen to hire men with beards
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has called for legislation, after a new study showed that employers discriminate against men with beards.
The study published last month in the Journal of Social Psychology showed that in a large scale sample, stereotyping of men with beards meant prospective employers looked on them less favourably than their clean shaven counterparts.
Other characteristics considered included wearing of glasses and a tie.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, in 2019 it is entirely unacceptable that men with beards should face discrimination in the job market. It is also unfortunately, in most cases, entirely legal in the UK. It is more than time for legislation to address the issue
Journal of Social Psychology, September 2019
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.2019.1671300
Effects of facial features and styling elements on perceptions of competence, warmth, and hireability of male professionals
Marc Fetscherin,Stacey Tantleff-Dunn &Arne Klumb
Few studies investigated the effects of facial characteristics on stereotyping in the business context. Using a 2 (beard/no beard) x 2 (acne/no acne) x 2 (tie/no tie) x 2 (eyeglasses/no eyeglasses) between subjects’ design, two representative samples of 364 and 711 participants rated different stimuli of male subjects on dimensions of competence, warmth and hireability. Based on 4,215 observations, results show acne has a negative and eyeglasses a positive effect on both competence and warmth. Wearing a necktie has a positive effect on competence and a negative effect on warmth. Finally, beardedness has a negative effect on warmth. We also observe that competence has a greater effect on hireability than warmth. We discuss the findings in the context of theoretical and managerial implications for male job applicants as well as HR practices.
Leave a Reply