Keeping it "All in the Family:" Does Nepotism in the Hiring Process Really Benefit the Beneficiary?

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the consequences of being perceived as having benefited from a family connection during the hiring process. One hundred and ninety-seven upper-level undergraduate students reviewed materials describing three candidates for a managerial position. Selection method (merit vs. nepotism) and gender of the person who received the position were manipulated in the materials. Results revealed that not only was nepotism perceived as being less fair than merit-based hiring, but individuals believed to have benefited from a family connection during the hiring process were viewed less favorably than individuals believed to have been hired based on merit.

Bringing Along the Family: Nepotism in the Workplace

“…This study demonstrated that potential applicants evaluate organizations based on their nepotistic practices, create fairness judgments about the organization and have significant reactions against the organization. These results extend the previous research of Padgett and Morris (2005), by focusing on the impact nepotism may have on the organization as a whole. Their study primarily pertained to the impact of nepotism on the nepotistic relation.…”

“…Their study primarily pertained to the impact of nepotism on the nepotistic relation. This paper extended the previous research on nepotism by elucidating the psychological mechanism of organizational justice, while the previous studies considered fairness as outcome variable of importance (Chao, Ya-Ru & Xin, 2004;Padgett & Morris, 2005), this study framed fairness as the major component to how nepotism is evaluated. While the results were not in the intended direction, this study was the first to truly consider the impact the self-concept may have on these evaluations and to suggest that how we relate to others is of particular importance in our consideration of nepotism.…”

“…Specifically, what are the organizational consequences of nepotistic practices as one moves up the organizational hierarchy? Padgett and Morris (2005) lay the groundwork for asking this question but more research is needed to fully understand the ramifications of nepotistic practices on the non-connected employees but also the in-group employees. It is possible that nepotistic practices act to negatively distort the competence attributions of the beneficiaries of these very practices.…”

“…These researchers also found that managers were uncomfortable with their supervisor's family members working with them. Padgett and Morris (2005) conducted an experimental study that found that participants in the nepotistic condition perceived workers hired on the basis of their family connections as less competent. Furthermore, the participants in the nepotistic condition perceived the company as only interested in promoting family members and therefore, non-family members were believed to be promoted less.…”

“…family member) connections (Padgett & Morris, 2005). Passing over qualified job applicants for someone with family ties has been shown to create reductions in organization productivity (Chandler, Gely, Howard, & Cheramie, 2002), can potentially lead to legal action such as discrimination lawsuits (Steiner & Steinberg, 1994), creates a lack of employee diversity (Hambrick, & Mason, 1984), and ultimately, organizations can decline due to a lack of innovation and creativity (Mone, McKinley, & Barker, 1998;Crow & Hartman, 2003;.…”