The Effect of Resume Whitening on African Americans Ingroup Members' Perceived Likability, Hireability, Future Encounters, and Emotional Reactions: The Role of Perceived Racial Identity

Abstract

Members of stigmatized racial groups who realize that they might face employment discrimination may engage in résumé whitening, whereby they downplay the role of their group identity in their résumés. Although it has been documented that this approach helps members of stigmatized groups, such as Black American and Asian American individuals, move forward in their pursuit of employment (Kang, DeCelles, Tilcsik, & Jun, 2016), little is known about how their ingroup members would perceive this behavior. The current study explores the potential backlash coming from their own ingroup members when Black targets engage in résumé whitening.