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The emergence and reduction of bias in letters of recommendation
Author(s) -
Morgan Whitney Botsford,
Elder Katherine B.,
King Eden B.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12179
Subject(s) - psychology , race (biology) , elaboration , social psychology , gender bias , selection bias , selection (genetic algorithm) , response bias , implicit bias , statistics , computer science , artificial intelligence , sociology , humanities , mathematics , gender studies , philosophy
Despite the widespread use of letters of recommendation ( LOR s) in selection systems, research has largely failed to consider the potential emergence of bias in interpretations of LOR s. The present study fills this void by examining both race and gender bias in evaluations of LOR s and assessing the efficacy of elaboration as a strategy for reducing such bias. Undergraduate students ( n = 423) rated four LOR s that varied with regard to applicant race and gender. Results suggest that bias does exist in evaluations of LOR s, but that requiring raters to expand on their evaluations (i.e., elaborate) reduces this bias. Implications include elaboration as a strategy organizations can implement to reduce bias from emerging when relying on LOR s as a selection tool.