Document Type

Article

Abstract

This study examines how the condition of an employee’s home background setting (messy vs. tidy) and the presence of a child on screen (present vs. not present) impact observer judgments of the target’s professionalism, competence, and career success. Participants (N=711) were randomly assigned to one of 16 experimental conditions with two levels for performance (high or low), target gender (male or female), background (messy or tidy), and child (present or not present). The results show that messiness alone results in less favorable perceptions of the target employee’s professionalism and career outcomes, but not competence. Having a child present did not impact any of the dependent variables. The study’s most consistent finding was that individuals with a messy background experience a buffer effect if they have a child present. That is, individuals with a messy background were rated higher in professionalism, competence, and career outcomes when they had a child present than when there was no child present.

DOI

10.2139/ssrn.4518518

Publication Date

1-2023

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