Consistency matters: The interaction effect of grooming and dress style on hirability

Abstract

Grooming and dress style have both been found to influence the probability of a job applicant being hired. We argue that as these two elements take effect simultaneously during a job application, it is necessary to simultaneously examine the interaction of these two elements of appearance. Based on cue consistency theory, we propose that grooming and a gender-inconsistent dress style weaken the effects of each other, especially when the evaluators are men. We used three samples to progressively test our hypotheses. With Sample 1 (n = 142), we found that masculine dress weakened the positive effect of grooming on the hirability of female applicants. Furthermore, the interaction effect of grooming and dress style was stronger for male than for female evaluators. With Sample 2 (n = 152), we found that perceived competence mediated the two-way interaction effect of grooming and dress style on hirability. We used Sample 3 (n = 155) to further examine whether these findings could be generalized to male applicants and found that the interaction effect of grooming and masculine dress was stronger for male than for female evaluators.