"I Think She's Attracted to Me": The Effect of Men's Beliefs on Women's Behavior in a Job Interview Scenario

Abstract

This study investigated how an attraction belief affected both a man's treatment of a woman and her responses to his treatment in an environment governed by professional norms (i.e., in a job interview scenario). Sixty male undergraduates interviewed 60 female undergraduates to assess their suitability for a teaching assistant position. A randomly selected half of the interviewers were led to believe that the woman (i.e., the applicant) was attracted to them, whereas the other half were led to believe that she was not attracted to them. Consistent with research on behavioral confirmation, interviewers elicited significantly more flirtatious behavior from applicants in the attraction belief condition than in the no-attraction belief condition. Applicants did not perceive any differences in their flirtatious behavior, suggesting an unwitting participation in the sequence of behavioral confirmation. Implications of these results for understanding the initiation of potentially sexually harassing behavior are discussed.