In a job interview, making a good impression goes beyond the basics. Leveraging shared social identities, like political views, can influence favorable treatment. Research shows that people strategically use their political stances to their advantage, with political identity having a significant impact on decision-makers behavior. This phenomenon raises questions about how emphasizing shared political affiliations may be contributing to societal polarization. Job interview social identity
Exploring Social Identity in Job Interviews
Certainly, the old direction of looking into one another’s eyes and smiling will not work in a job interview. Using common social identities — for example, political orientation — can be highly effective. One result of such research is that people show favoritism towards others based on shared political beliefs — and folks appear well aware of this, strategically revealing their ideological allegiances. So, there are some basic and interesting questions we need to be asking about how much difference using your political identity actually makes when it comes to professional interactions.
The Impact of Political Identity on Decision-Making
Whether it is in business or elsewhere, politics informs the way individuals interact. References in psychiatry showed that those who share the political views of decision-makers are more likely to fare better off. This strategic social identity use speaks to the importance of political affiliations as a mediator in professional relationships. Equally, the danger of accentuating political convergences at the risk of increasing societal division is one to be contemplated.
Navigating the Complexities of Social Identity
As the political one-way street drives individuals in how they explore their performative identity, the implications of all of this go beyond just personal image. Although capitalizing on shared political identity might have some advantages in certain settings, it also runs the risk of further polarising society. It is a humble exercise to consider the complicated dynamics at play when it comes to social identity, ranging from personal ideologies, through professional repercussions, all the way up a choir to where our society lays.
