How verb aspect influences perceptions of agency and hiring decisions differently for men and women

dc.contributorGuadagno, Rosanna E.
dc.contributorBissell, Kimberly L.
dc.contributor.advisorHart, William P.
dc.contributor.authorShreves, Wyley Burnett
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T16:49:38Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T16:49:38Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractThe current research tests whether prior work-related activities framed as ongoing in terms of what one was doing (the imperfective verb aspect) versus as completed as what one did (the perfective verb aspect) are perceived as more agentic behaviors and, in turn, make the agent appear more suitable for a management position. In Experiment 1, participants read a fictional resume from either a male or female applicant that was written in either the perfective or imperfective aspect. They were then asked to rate the employability of the candidate for the job, as well as judge the effort and intentionality of the candidate's actions. Results revealed that the imperfective aspect increased the perceived agency and employability of the male applicant but unexpectedly reduced the perceived agency and employability of the female applicant. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that, for both the male and female applicants, the effects of aspect on ratings of employability were mediated by perceived agency. This interaction was theorized to be caused by gender stereotyping. Specifically, the imperfective (vs. perfective) aspect may have caused a more elaborative visualization of the female candidate performing communal actions. Experiment 2 addressed this possibility by adding a manipulation of agency expectation into the experimental design. Before reading the resume, the participant read a short questionnaire that conveyed a highly agentic personality, a highly communal personality, or a neutral personality (control, no-expectation condition). Signs of an interaction appeared: When participants had clear agency expectations, the effect of verb aspect on employability appeared to become attenuated.en_US
dc.format.extent41 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0001330
dc.identifier.otherShreves_alatus_0004M_11245
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/1797
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectPsychology
dc.titleHow verb aspect influences perceptions of agency and hiring decisions differently for men and womenen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Psychology
etdms.degree.disciplinePsychology
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.levelmaster's
etdms.degree.nameM.A.
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