College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

Spring 6-12-2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Alice Stuhlmacher, PhD

Second Advisor

Verena Graupmann, PhD

Abstract

Norm violations typically result in negative consequences and perceptions towards the transgressor; however, recent research has indicated that violating norms may result in positive outcomes if the transgressor was perceived as high status (Bellezza, Gino, & Keinan, 2014). Negotiators in a job hiring process might have their own set of social norms that they are expected to follow, such as the attire they should wear to a negotiation. A violation of one of these norms may have an impact on the perceptions of the job applicant, and thus, alter the negotiation process for a starting job offer. It was hypothesized that the qualifications of a job applicant would increase perceptions of power and competence and that the applicant would receive more favorable first offers than less qualified applicants. It was also hypothesized that there would be an interaction between non-conformity and resume qualifications on perceived power, perceived competence, and the value of a first offer. The data was collected from 240 participants from Amazon’s MTurk platform. Results indicated that having a profile that shows an applicant is highly qualified for a position received more favorable first offers and were perceived as more competent than unqualified applicants. Furthermore, there were interaction effects nonconformity and resume quality such that applicants who are unqualified and strongly deviate from expected norms received significantly worse first offers and are perceived as being incompetent relative to other conditions. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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