Impact of First Names on Hiring Decisions

In “The ‘Name Game’: Affective and Hiring Reactions to First Names,” the authors conducted two studies. In the first study, researcher Cotton composed a collection of names into four specific categories: Common names, African-American names, Russian names (usually racially classified as White) and Unique names. The sample included 48 names (six males and six females from each of the four categories) in the study. Cotton mentions the use of a Likert scale ,in the study, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) and “the respondents were asked to evaluate names across a variety of dimensions, including uniqueness, likeability, nationality, and gender.” The Common names were rated at 1.5 or below as being “different”: John, Robert,

Unique and African American names were rated high in being “different” and Common and Russian names were rated low in being “different.” In the second study, the respondents assessed the uniqueness and likeability of the 16 names from the first study and assessed whether they would hire someone in relation to the name (11). Results showed that respondents saw Common names as least unique, best liked, and most likely to be hired. Respondents saw Unusual names as most unique, least liked, and least likely to be hired. Russian and African-American names were intermediate in terms of uniqueness, likeability and being hired, significantly different from Common and Unique names, but not significantly different from each other (14). African-Americans often have unique names (like, Laquisha) and the study suggests that unique names are least liked and least likely to be hired; common African-American names are intermediate in likeability and being hired (14). Names can not only give away a person’s race or ethnicity, but they can also sound “different” to the employer, which can also reduce the applicant’s chances of getting a

According to Bertrand and Mullainathan, African-American sounding names on resumes are 50 percent less likely to get a call back when compared to White-sounding names. Unique names (which are common in African American populations) are considered different and applicants with unique names were also less likely to be hired (Cotton, John L., et al., 14). Names not only give employers a hint about the applicant's race and ethnicity but names can also influence how the employers imagine the applicant in their minds (Holbrook, Colin, et al). Dr. Holbrook’s study suggests that Latino and African American-sounding names are often discriminated against and applicants with these names are perceived to be larger in size, more violent, and of lower socioeconomic status. Bart suggests some solutions to this bias, including coding job applications, which would make identifying race and gender more difficult for the employer. Another solution to this cognitive bias is awareness. Knowing that each of us harbor stereotypes can help us control “whether we allow them to affect the way we treat people [whom] we may view as different” (Bart, B. D, et al). These solutions can hopefully help to reduce name bias in the hiring process and give all applicants a fair and equal chance of getting a