Social Media and Political Affiliation: How Expressing Hot-Button Opinions Affects Raters’ Assessments of Job Applicants

Practice- and Policy-Oriented Abstract People frequently post their views on hot-button issues, such as immigration, on social media platforms on which the content is often publicly accessible to broad audiences. One of these audiences is hiring managers as more than 50% of organizations report viewing job applicants’ accounts as part of social media screening during the hiring process. Our research shows that applicants’ social media activity on hot-button issues can significantly impact their hireability. In a study of 377 professionals with hiring experience, we find that viewing applicants’ social media posts about immigration influenced judgments of similarity, likability, and two dimensions of hireability: expected task performance and expected organizational citizenship behaviors. Surprisingly, the hot-button posts outweighed job-relevant information regardless of where (Facebook or Twitter) the content was viewed; this indicates hiring managers generalized their impressions across social media platforms. A post hoc qualitative applicability check with 79 hiring managers confirmed these findings. Our study highlights the risks of using hedonic social media for screening job applicants, emphasizing the need for organizations to be mindful of how personal disclosures online can unintentionally influence hiring decisions.