Location
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
3-1-2024 12:00 AM
End Date
6-1-2024 12:00 AM
Description
People with invisible stigma often feel pressure about whether to disclose their invisible stigma or try to keep it hidden from their employer. While the decision to disclose or conceal stigma has been considered relatively straightforward, the ease of access to online personal information has made the decision process more uncontrollable and uncertain, as invisible stigma can now be discovered without the stigma holder's choice to reveal it to employers. This possibility of stigma discovery is troubling for job applicants, as hiring managers routinely review social media accounts as part of the hiring process through which hiring managers may unknowingly discover applicants' invisible stigmas and make a biased hiring decision. Against this background, we investigate whether job applicants should disclose their stigma when there is a risk of it being discovered online. To this end, we conducted an experiment in which subjects viewed job applicants’ cover letters (stigma disclosure) and social media (stigma discovery). Our findings indicate that when stigma disclosure alone happens, it is generally beneficial for job applicants, whereas stigma disclosure accompanied with discovery does not weaken stigma’s adverse effects on hiring outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Kwon, Youngjin; Thatcher, Jason Bennet; Roth, Philip; and Pienta, Dan, "Unraveling the Dilemma of Stigma Disclosure: The Implications of Social Media and Stigma Discovery on Hiring" (2024). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2024 (HICSS-57). 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-57/sj/dei/2
Unraveling the Dilemma of Stigma Disclosure: The Implications of Social Media and Stigma Discovery on Hiring
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
People with invisible stigma often feel pressure about whether to disclose their invisible stigma or try to keep it hidden from their employer. While the decision to disclose or conceal stigma has been considered relatively straightforward, the ease of access to online personal information has made the decision process more uncontrollable and uncertain, as invisible stigma can now be discovered without the stigma holder's choice to reveal it to employers. This possibility of stigma discovery is troubling for job applicants, as hiring managers routinely review social media accounts as part of the hiring process through which hiring managers may unknowingly discover applicants' invisible stigmas and make a biased hiring decision. Against this background, we investigate whether job applicants should disclose their stigma when there is a risk of it being discovered online. To this end, we conducted an experiment in which subjects viewed job applicants’ cover letters (stigma disclosure) and social media (stigma discovery). Our findings indicate that when stigma disclosure alone happens, it is generally beneficial for job applicants, whereas stigma disclosure accompanied with discovery does not weaken stigma’s adverse effects on hiring outcomes.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-57/sj/dei/2