By organizing crowds of scientists to independently tackle the same research questions, we can collectively overcome the generalizability crisis. Strategies to draw inferences from a heterogeneous ...set of research approaches include aggregation, for instance, meta-analyzing the effect sizes obtained by different investigators, and parsing, attempting to identify theoretically meaningful moderators that explain the variability in results.
It is widely acknowledged that subgroup bias can influence hiring evaluations. However, the notion that bias still threatens equitable hiring outcomes in modern employment contexts continues to be ...debated, even among organizational scholars. In this study, we sought to contextualize this debate by estimating the practical impact of bias on real-world hiring outcomes (a) across a wide range of hiring scenarios and (b) in the presence of diversity-oriented staffing practices. Toward this end, we conducted a targeted meta-analysis of recent hiring experiments that manipulated both candidate gender and qualifications to couch our investigation within ongoing debates surrounding the impact of small amounts of bias in otherwise meritocratic hiring contexts. Consistent with prior research, we found evidence of small gender bias effects (d = −0.30) and large qualification effects (d = 1.61) on hiring managers’ evaluations of candidate hireability. We then used these values to inform the starting parameters of a large-scale computer simulation designed to model conventional processes by which candidates are recruited, evaluated, and selected for open positions. Collectively, our simulation findings empirically substantiate assertions that even seemingly trivial amounts of subgroup bias can produce practically significant rates of hiring discrimination and productivity loss. Furthermore, we found contextual factors can alter but cannot obviate the consequences of biased evaluations, even within apparently optimal hiring scenarios (e.g., when extremely valid assessments are used). Finally, our results demonstrate residual amounts of subgroup bias can undermine the effectiveness of otherwise successful targeted recruitment efforts. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
To revitalize the study of unconscious bias, Gawronski, Ledgerwood, and Eastwick (this issue) propose a paradigm shift away from implicit measures of inter-group attitudes and beliefs. Specifically, ...researchers should capture discriminatory biases and demonstrate that participants are unaware of the influence of social category cues on their judgments and actions. Individual differences in scores on implicit measures will be useful to predict and better understand implicitly prejudiced behaviors, but the latter should be the collective focus of researchers interested in unconscious biases against social groups.
•The psychological effects of returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown.•10.8% of respondents suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after returning to work.•Returning to work ...had not caused a high level of psychiatric symptoms in the workforce.•Psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures were associated with less psychiatric symptoms.•More executives practiced hand hygiene and more workers avoided sharing utensils.•Psychoneuroimmunity measures of the Chinese workforce can be applied to other countries.
This study aimed to quantify the immediate psychological effects and psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures of a workforce returning to work during the COVID-19 epidemic. Workforce returning to work was invited to complete an online questionnaire regarding their attitude toward the COVID-19 epidemic and return-to-work along with psychological parameters including the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale- 21 (DASS-21) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures include precautions at personal and organization levels. From 673 valid questionnaires, we found that 10.8% of respondents met the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after returning to work. The respondents reported a low prevalence of anxiety (3.8%), depression (3.7%), stress (1.5%) and insomnia (2.3%). There were no significant differences in the severity of psychiatric symptoms between workers/technicians and executives/managers. >95% reported psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures including good ventilation in the workplace and wore a face mask as protective. Factors that were associated with the severity of psychiatric symptoms in the workforce were marital status, presence of physical symptom, poor physical health and viewing return to work as a health hazard (p < 0.05). In contrast, personal psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures including hand hygiene and wearing face masks as well as organizational measures including significant improvement of workplace hygiene and concerns from the company were associated with less severe psychiatric symptoms (p < 0.05). Contrary to expectations, returning to work had not caused a high level of psychiatric symptoms in the workforce. The low prevalence of psychiatric symptoms could be due to confidence instilled by psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures before the resumption of work. Our findings would provide information for other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
...Western European nations reported the highest levels of stress and the lowest levels of trust in the government in our entire survey. There could also be a chicken-and-egg element to the ...trust-severity-concern relationship, in which governments responded to elevated levels of public concern with policies of corresponding severity. ...discoveries about the psychology of Covid compliance could be gained through further open science endeavours – perhaps incorporating variables beyond the scope of our study (e.g. specific coping strategies and psychological recovery) and employing apposite comparisons such as between infected and uninfected populations.
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