Better not look too nice? Employees' preferences towards (un)likeable managers

Abstract

Recent research shows that, all else equal, most people prefer likeable colleagues. In this article, two experiments are employed to analyze preferences with respect to (un)likeable superiors. We thereby focus on perceptions of likeability based on appearance rather than as a behavioral characteristic, which allows us to concentrate on the impact of quick, unconscious evaluations in zero-acquaintance situations. The results indicate that, all else equal, managers of higher perceived likeability are less preferred than managers of lower perceived likeability.Such likeability-aversion emerges among male and female respondents, affects male and female managers, and holds both for preferences expressed from the perspective of employees (Experiment 1) or a HR department (Experiment 2). Keywords: Likeability, Relational Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange, RoleIncongruence, Thin-slice Impressions.Word count: 8448 words * I am grateful to all respondents for their time, as well as to Jørgen Juel Andersen, Jon Fiva, Stefan Gänzle and Dag-Ingvar Jacobsen for access to their students, and to Gianmarco Daniele, Tom-Reiel Heggedal, Leif Helland, Joshua Holm, Helge Hånes, Justin Jansen, Lars Monkerud, Zuzana Murdoch, Panu Poutvaara and two anonymous referees for insightful suggestions. I also thank Panu Poutvaara for access to the second set of pictures (and the evaluations thereof). Financial assistance from FWO Vlaanderen (grant number G.0022.12) is gratefully acknowledged.

High Power Distance Enhances Employees' Preference for Likable Managers: A Resource Dependency Perspective

“…This finding is consistent across study 1 and study 2. This finding completely opposes the results of Geys (2014), who found in Norway that, all else equal, managers with higher perceived likeability are preferred less than managers with lower perceived likeability. This likeability-aversion emerges among male and female respondents, affects male and female managers, and holds for preferences expressed from the perspective of both employees and HR departments.…”

“…In accordance with previous work (Geys, 2014), participants were asked: “Based on the picture provided, what do you think of this person—compared with people living in your country—in terms of his/her likability (i.e., how nice, pleasant and agreeable do you find this person)?” using a 5-point scale (1 = “not likable at all,” and 5 = “very likable”). To control for the effect of facial attractiveness, participants were also required to evaluate “how attractive do you think this person is?” using a five-point scale (1 = “not attractive at all,” and 5 = “very attractive”).…”

“…In the second part, following Geys (2014), participants were asked to imagine that they were working in the sales department of a large company. The department was in the process of hiring a new manager.…”

“…The department was in the process of hiring a new manager. Because the new manager will be their direct superior, their perceptions of and preferences for the candidates would be collected in this task, and their opinions would be seriously considered when the final hiring decision was made (Geys, 2014). …”

“…Information on the resumes included gender, age, education, work experience, and most importantly, a standardized black-and-white headshot of the candidate. The information in the resumes was designed to be roughly equal, except that the likability of the manager candidates' headshots was manipulated (Geys, 2014). Each participant evaluated 2 resumes with headshots that scored high in likability and 2 resumes with headshots that scored low in likability.…”