Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Jobs, Science, World News
Liv Bridge
A new scientific study has revealed the 36 names least likely to get a job.
Researchers from Carleton University in Canada have examined how a name can have a negative impact on your job prospects. In the study, the scientists asked participants to choose between two potential candidates for a role, without knowing anything other than their names.
The results made for some shocking findings, revealing people with smoother-sounding names were more likely to be hired than those with harsher-sounding names for certain jobs.
It apparently all comes down to a phenomenon known as sound symbolism, suggesting that even something as seemingly insignificant like the phonemes in a name can come with a hidden consequence on how they are viewed by others.
Advert
The study, published in Science Direct, reveals names 'evoke personality associations based on the sounds they contain' with names containing sonorant consonants 'evoking different associations' than the names with 'voiceless stops'.
In other words, it's good news for people with names like Anne, June, Luna and Noelle, but bad news for Rita, Katie, Greta, and Kirk.
"These results show the sound of a name might be one additional source of bias in hiring decisions. When people don't have a lot of details about a candidate, it seems that there is much in a name," explained study authors, Dr David Dishu and Professor Pexman in an article for The Conversation.
Advert
The pair explained further: "The best known example of sound symbolism is the bouba/kiki effect. Across languages and cultures, people tend to match the made-up word 'bouba' with round shapes and 'kiki' with spiky ones."
Why this happens is still the subject of debate, with some theories suggesting it comes down to the physical sensation of pronouncing the words or the ways the sounds of words 'imitate the features' of round or spiky objects.
"Not only do people associate names like Bob with round silhouettes and Kirk with spiky silhouettes, but people also associate these names with different personality traits."
Advert
They said people with round silhouettes like Liam or Noelle were deemed more agreeable and emotional, while 'spikier' names like Tate or Krista were judged as more extroverted.
"Importantly, this didn’t mean that Liams actually were more agreeable than Tates," they continued. "In fact, when our study looked at the personalities of more than 1,000 people, we didn’t find any sign these patterns existed in the real world. Nevertheless, people still make associations based on the sounds of names."
"In our latest study, we were curious to see how these associations might affect judgments in a real-world context: hiring."
Advert
The researchers designed job ads that looked for a candidate high in one of six personality traits - honesty-humility, emotionality, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
The ads were sent to 60 participants and found participants were more likely to prefer the candidate with a sonorant name indicating honesty–humility, emotionality, agreeableness and openness.
But when the researchers provided participants with a picture or video about the candidates, the influence of their name became less relevant.
The 36 names least likely to get a job according to the study were:
Meanwhile, the 36 names most likely to get a job based on the study were: