Bias in the Hiring Process, Part 9

Attribution Bias

In psychology, attribution refers to the process by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events.  Cause and effect are very important in business because we want to know exactly the cause that produces a particular outcome in order to replicate it or avoid it, depending on the situation.  For example, sales managers seek to understand just what specific behaviors and information result in a sale.  Based on past experience and a lot of data analysis, a Sales Manager might deduce that outgoing, positive, extroverted sales people are more likely to connect with customers and generate sales.  He will look to hire people with that disposition. Or hiring managers might want to know what type of employees are most likely to stay with the company a long time.  So one HR Director, looking at research and her own record, might deduce that younger employees tend to change jobs more frequently and decide to hire middle aged employees in order to reduce turnover.  For most business decisions, attribution is key.

But sometimes we assume a cause/effect relationship when the relationship is actually correlated or there might be multiple causes.  Or, we assume something is the cause when actually the cause was something else altogether.  This happens a lot and is known as Attribution Bias.  Attribution Bias happens when we assess the causes of behavior – our own as well as that of others — but do not view the situation fairly and objectively.

With Attribution Bias, we tend to explain a person’s behavior by referring to their character rather than situational factors to explain the cause.  Due to this unconscious bias, we tend to overestimate the weight of someone’s personality traits and underestimate the influence of their individual circumstances or situation.  And even that is not applied fairly and objectively.  When we assess ourselves, we tend to think our achievements are a direct result of our merit and personality while our failings are the result of external factors, including other people that adversely affected us and prevented us from doing our best.  But when we assess others, we think the opposite is true. We are more likely to consider the achievements of others as a result of luck or chance or circumstance while their failings are a result of their personality or behavior.  In other words, we assume the worst of others and the best in ourselves.

Attribution Bias is often paired with another phenomena called the Fallacy of a Single Cause.  That is when we assume a single cause for a behavior or event when multiple factors are likely necessary.  Also known as Causal Oversimplification, Fallacy of a Single Cause basically means “X caused Y; therefore, X was the only cause of Y”.  With Fallacy of a Single Cause, we ignore that A, B, C, etc. might have also contributed to Y.  This kind of oversimplification causes a false dilemma where conjoint possibilities are ignored.

Types of Assumption Bias

There are different kinds of Assumption Bias.

• Fundamental Attribution Bias attributes the behavior of others to internal characteristics, but one’s own actions as a result of environmental factors. If a colleague has a stern expression, they have a bad attitude.  But if one has a stern expression himself, that is because he is distracted by an upcoming deadline.  There is a more forgiving attitude toward one’s own external factors while failing to consider the external circumstances of others.
  
• Self-Serving Bias interprets personal successes to internal characteristics (such as a promotion being the result of intelligence or hard work rather than good fortune or situation) and failures as a result of external circumstances (such as being demoted being the result of a toxic boss or unrealistic workload rather than poor time management or inferior work product) thus absolving responsibility.
  
• Hostile Attribution Bias interprets ambiguous behavior as being hostile or malignant, instead of benign. In the extreme, it can cause severe insecurity and irrationality. A classic example might be when a hiring manager assumes that a supervisor who refuses to comment on a former employee’s work product means that the employee did a bad job, instead of considering that the company might have a strict policy of not allowing any comments about past employees.
  
• Negative Impression Bias focuses on negative information about others and over-emphasizes its continued impact or presence.  Or the person might over-emphasize negative traits, actions or characteristics of an individual because of a past experience.  For example, a recruiter might over-emphasize the physical limitations of someone who is handicapped because a past experience placing a handicapped person resulted in a lawsuit for that company.
  
• False Consensus Bias attributes one’s own thought process and reactions to others leading to judgment according to one’s own intentions and motivations, not theirs.  For example, a hiring manager might have an aversion of hiring people who are devout in their religious beliefs because that manager sees all organized religion in a negative light.

Attribution Bias and the Hiring Process

It is pretty clear that Attribution Bias can have a profound effect on recruiting and hiring.  If attribution bias is conspicuous within the hiring process, distorted assumptions will deeply color all impressions of prospective employees.  This will lead to distorted judgements about the skills and competencies of candidates and could prevent top talent from being hired.  The bias can embed itself and taint perception of all future interactions and behaviors exhibited by either the recruiter, hiring manager and/or prospective employee. 

It is characterized by a “perceptual error”.  An assumption is made based on a perception and – without the full details of an occurrence.  And then conclusions are drawn, using previous experiences, associations or values to assist.  A perception creates its own subjective reality.  And then it is used, together with other input, to judge and interpret actions.  If the constructed reality is dominant or distorted from the objective reality, it can lead to illogical interpretation, inaccurate judgements and irrationality.

During the Application Process

Attribution bias can particularly be an issue during the initial application stage. When sifting through numerous resumes, recruiters might read into certain details and attribute them to negative personal qualities, as they seek to build a tangible profile of the individual. As a resume cannot fully indicate the skills or potential of a candidate, making judgements based on reading into the information provided can lead to missed opportunities.  In this stage of the process, an applicant cannot address perceptions of their actions or motivations.  It can cause strong candidates to be eliminated due to the sway of false hypotheses.

During the Interview Stage

In interviews, attribution bias can cause recruiters to make judgments without interrogating their validity. It can cause hiring managers to read into behaviors and appearance and pull meaning, fictionalizing the implication without having a full picture of the referenced situation or occurrence.

For example, a perception might be that people with tattoos have questionable values.  That creates its own subjective reality in the mind of the hiring manager who is looking to hire an Accounting Clerk.  When presented with a highly-qualified candidate, the manager might not want to hire the candidate with the tattoo because that person was only at his last job for six months.  The hiring manager might jump to the conclusion that the reason for the job change was due to the candidate’s values, even if the person was laid off along with 20% of the company’s staff following a merger.  And it may be the candidate got the tattoo to support a friend with cancer.  In the mind of the manager, the perception distorted the objective reality and lost the company a highly-experienced Accounting Clerk.

There is no sure fire way to totally eradicate Assumption Bias.  Beyond just being aware that it exists, it helps to use more than just a resume to shortlist candidates.  Use other tools or samples to supplement incomplete information and aid perception.  Ask for work samples.  Use assessment tests.  Review outputs from a set task.  Focus on current skills and work product rather than subjective deductions about past work.  During interviews, ask behavior-based questions to identify motivations and preferences.  The goal is to deconstruct unfounded assumptions made about character.  Ultimately, every company wants to hire the best possible candidate for every role.  While unconscious biases might shorten the process, it won’t deliver the best outcome.

Quote of the Week

“Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples – while judging ourselves by our best intentions.  And this strains our bonds of understanding and common purpose.”
George H.W. Bush

© 2022, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.

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