Abstract
Abstract Fatal spelling errors? An experimental study into the way in which spelling errors in job application letters and sponsorship requests affect decision making In this article we study how professionals value spelling errors in job applications and sponsor letters and how these judgements affect their decisions to hire a candidate or donate money. In a 2x2x2 experiment 398 participants read an application letter or a sponsorship request letter with or without spelling errors and evaluated several aspects of the letter, the author and the chance of a successful outcome of the procedure. When we compare the direct effects of spelling errors on several aspects of evaluation we find no important differences between the two genres in the way spelling errors affect judgements. When we analyze the relations between the evaluation aspects with the help of mediation analysis, we find that the path from spelling error to attributed success of the application is mediated by the evaluation of the writer while the attributed success of the sponsor letter is mediated by the evaluation of the text quality. The results are discussed in view of the opinion chic that spelling errors are fatal in job applications.
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