Page 328 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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12. PHYSICALLY UNATTRACTIVE BIAS
The existence of behavioral biases suggests that training is needed to
impart social skills in interacting with persons of different appearance.
Training of this nature could include not only those who are the perpetra­
tors of the discrimination but also those who are the targets. Both those
who are the perpetrators and the victims can be instructed in how deal
with the "awkward moments" that can occur in interactions with persons
of different appearance and how to put others at ease in interactions (Hebl,
Tickle, & Heatherton, 2000). These awkward moments constitute behav­
ioral episodes that are crucial in shaping a relationship. Identifying and
attempting to impart specific behavioral strategies have considerable po­
tential in helping to lessen appearance biases.
If affective responses are an element of the bias against unattractive
persons, then interventions to eliminate this bias may require efforts to
reduce the anxiety and other negative emotion associated with appearance.
Along these lines, desensitization therapy has been used to reduce racial
bias by having persons visualize increasingly threatening racial situations
while undergoing relaxation (Sappington, 1976). Although it is doubtful
that organizations will (or should) submit employees to psychotherapy
to eliminate appearance bias, the irrational, even unconscious, emotions
that can motivate these biases need to be acknowledged. A more likely
intervention is to increase self-awareness of the bias and provide insight
into the underlying dynamics.
As part of the efforts to make employees more open to diversity, work­
shops and seminars on the topic should attempt to increase awareness
of attractiveness bias and its effect on judgments and behavior. Such ef­
forts may not succeed, however, unless there are also changes in personnel
policies and procedures. In particular, appearance should be deempha­
sized as a factor in selection and appraisal systems except for those aspects
of appearance that are clearly shown to be related to performance of the
job. Explicit appearance ratings are frequently used in the evaluation of
applicants and employees, but can serve as a surrogate for all sorts of
biases. If appearance is shown to be job-related, then behaviorally spe­
cific scales should be developed to conduct appearance ratings. A careful
study is likely to reveal that some appearance standards are justifiable,
such as a prohibition against beards for employees who must wear safety
masks. In other cases, appearance standards are unrelated to success in
the job, such as might be the case with weight requirements for a clerical
worker. Some standards may be harder to call, particularly those based
on customer preferences. For instance, if we find physical attractiveness
to be related to success in sales, should we then use this in the selection
and appraisal of salespeople? While attractiveness may seem necessary
in a service-oriented, customer driven market, achieving diversity may