The study was designed as a 2x2, meaning there were two independent variables (IVs) with two levels under each independent variable. The first IV was whether there was alcohol present in a social media profile or not. A female in a Facebook profile was either holding a water bottle or a beer bottle. The second IV was the type of job that the female was applying to. The two jobs that were given were a job in public relations (female-dominated job) or a job as an engineer (male-dominated job). The dependent variables (DVs) of the study were hiring perceptions, dehumanization, objectification, professionality, and sexual availability of the candidate.

All participants viewed the expectations for the job, a candidate’s resume, and a fictitious Facebook profile of “Sam Duncan”, a medium-height, medium-build, blonde, Caucasian woman. The whole Facebook “page” was cropped just below the bottom of the cover photo, including enough elements to cue people into it being a Facebook social media profile, but not displaying any “about” information or posts.  The cover photo of the page contained one of our manipulations; everything else remained the same between studies.

To propose the presence of alcohol, we showed participants a fictitious Facebook profile where the cover photograph depicted Sam Duncan at a bar, leaning on a table and smiling, holding a beverage. Half of the participants saw Sam holding a beer bottle (Alcohol Condition) and half saw Sam holding a water bottle (No Alcohol Condition).

To enforce a difference in the type of job the person was applying to, all participants viewed a resume of the job candidate.  Half the participants believed Sam Duncan was a Communications Major applying for a Public Relations Manager position (Female-Dominated Job Condition), and half the participants believed Sam was an Engineering Major applying for an Engineering Manager position (Male-Dominated Job Condition).  The resumes were identical except for the job the candidate was seeking (Public Relations Manager or Engineering Manager), and the Major Area of Study (Communication or Engineering).  All actual qualifications were neutrally framed skills and activities, such as experience with Microsoft Office, proficiency in data analysis, and a leadership award.

Past research has found that women holding an alcoholic beverage are more likely to be viewed as less human than women holding a non-alcoholic beverage (Riemer, et al., 2019).  We wanted to see if our study replicated this effect.  To do this, we used the same dehumanization measure used in Riemer and colleagues (2019).  In this measure, participants answered 8 items that related to their impressions of Sam in terms of materialistic and animalistic attributes on a 7-point Likert-Type Scale (1 = Not At All; 7 = Very Much).  More specifically, participants indicated if Sam appeared: 1) superficial, like they no depth, 2) mechanical and cold, like a robot, 3) open-minded, like they could think clearly about things, 4) emotional, like they were responsive and warm, 5) refined and cultured, 6) rational and logical, like they were intelligent, 7) lack self-restraint, like an animal, 8) unsophisticated.  

Similarly with dehumanization, women associated with alcoholic beverages have been found to be objectified more than when holding a non-alcoholic beverage (Riemer, et al., 2019). We used a matrix looking at sexual objectification from a previous study done by Riemer and colleagues (2019). In this matrix, participants were asked to rate their sexual impressions of Sam on a 7-point Likert-Type Scale (1=Not At All; 7=Very Likely) of four questions relating to objectification. More specifically, participants indicated if Sam appeared: 1) Sam is single, 2) Sam would engage in casual sex, 3) Sam engages in risky sexual behavior, 4) Sam would have a one night stand.

We asked participants to measure various workplace factors of the confederate Sam Duncan. We presented this to the participants through two separate sections of the survey they were taking. We showed a matrix asking them to rate various personality traits of the confederate relating to the workplace, such as responsibility, motivation and dependability. The participants used a scale from 1 to 6 to rate the confederate on each adjective. The lower the score, the less they found that adjective matched the way they viewed the confederate. The second section used to calculate the professionality was a sectioned scale response asking about professional qualifications, potential salary, and likelihood to recommend the confederate to the job they were applying for. To measure qualifications, we asked 3 questions surrounding if they believed the confederate was qualified for the applied for position, if they would succeed in the position, and if they would be likely to earn a promotion in the position. Participants used a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 represented strongly disagreeing and 6 represented strongly agreeing. The participants then used a scale from 1 to 6 to rate how likely they were to recommend the candidate for the applied position, with 1 representing very unlikely and 6 representing very likely. Finally, the participants used a slider representing annual salary in thousands and placed the slider on the number they would recommend offering the confederate if they were hired, with the average salary range bein $50,000 to $70,000. The scale ranged from 0 to 100,000, allowing the participant to choose outside or within the average salary for the position.

To ensure participants were fully participating in the study, we placed a manipulation check section within the survey. This section had 5 questions to see how focused the participants were on the study. These questions included the gender of the confederate (there was only one confederate and they were a female), what the confederate was consuming, how sober the confederate seemed, what type of social media was shown, and if the participant had ever seen the confederate before. Based off of the participants responses, we could determine if they had been paying full attention to the survey or not. Along with the manipulation check, we asked for demographics at the end of the study. To consider a possible correlation between a participant’s demographic background and their calculated levels of sexualization and objectification of the confederate, we asked 14 demographic questions. These questions ranged from gender identity, ethnicity, age, political ideology, and years of previous hiring experience.

Prior to participating, all participants of this study reviewed an informed consent agreement on the computer screen, and indicated their agreement by selecting either “I Agree” or “I Disagree”. Participants then imagined that they are an employer looking to hire someone for an entry-level position. They then reviewed a job description that described the position and qualifications needed, a resume of the job candidate, and a social media account that was ostensibly found during an internet search on the candidate. 

To investigate the effects that the type of job might have on perceptions, half of the participants learned that they were hiring a public relations manager (female-dominated job) and half learned they were hiring an engineering manager (male-dominated job). The resumes that participants viewed corresponded with the type of position (public relations or engineering). In addition, the social media account was always a Facebook profile. However, half the participants saw the candidate holding a water bottle (no alcohol condition) and half the participants saw the candidate holding a beer bottle (alcohol condition).  

After reviewing the candidate’s materials, participants completed questions about their first impressions of the candidate and were specifically asked if different attributes “matched” or “did not match” the candidate. Some of the traits were related to objectification and some were related to dehumanization. In addition, participants evaluated the candidate on different job-related attributes (i.e., reliable, hardworking, productive, dependable, etc.), and indicated if they recommended the candidate for the position and what salary they would expect that they earn.  We also measured participant’s perceptions of the candidate in relation to dehumanization (Riemer, et al., 2019), sexual availability (Riemer, et al., 2019), and professionalism (DiMaria & Mendoza, 2018). 

Finally, participants completed information about their own social media usage and alcohol consumption.  We also included some manipulation check items (e.g. Was the person in the picture was male or female? and What was the person in the picture consuming?) and demographic information, such as gender identity, sexual orientation, age, etc.  After completing the study, all participants were debriefed and thanked for their participation.