Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026
06:46
Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Equal Employment Opportunity: are you overlooking the application form?
Personnel
|June 10, 1982
Summary
Most U.S. companies violate Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations on job applications, despite rules established in 1975. A study found 48 of 50 major organizations used application forms with illegal questions, highlighting a need for HR review.
Area of Science:
- Employment Law
- Human Resources Management
- Organizational Behavior
Background:
- In 1975, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidelines on prohibited subjects for employment application forms under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Compliance with these EEOC regulations by U.S. firms has been a persistent concern in employment practices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the extent to which major U.S. organizations adhered to EEOC regulations regarding content on employment application forms.
- To identify common areas of violation in current application forms used by businesses.
Main Methods:
- A review of employment application forms from 50 major U.S. organizations was conducted.
- Application forms were screened for questions that could be considered violations of EEOC guidelines and Title VII.
Main Results:
- A significant majority of reviewed organizations (48 out of 50) utilized application forms containing violations.
- Common violations were identified in sections pertaining to military background, educational history, arrest records, physical handicaps, age, and personal names.
Conclusions:
- Despite clear EEOC guidelines, many major U.S. organizations continue to use employment application forms that violate federal regulations.
- Human resources managers are urged to proactively reevaluate and audit their companies' selection processes and application forms to ensure compliance with employment law.
Related Concept Videos
01:46Types of Selection
Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
01:31Confirmation Biases
The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?
02:12Relationship Formation
What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who are...
02:09Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
01:27Halo Effect
The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which an individual's overall impression influences judgments about their specific traits. This psychological phenomenon leads people to associate positive characteristics with those they perceive as generally good and negative characteristics with those they view as bad. This effect is particularly influential in social perception, professional evaluations, and decision-making processes.The Psychological Basis of the Halo EffectThe halo effect is rooted...