Religiosity and ethics in the labor market: resume fraud and judgment

Purpose Labor market studies show that job applicants are naturally inclined to embellish or omit information on their resumes, to gain advantage over other applicants. Religiosity can reveal much about an individual's sense of right and wrong and it has importance as a social force with a foundational role in ethical development. The study’s objective is to clarify the relationship between personal religiosity and the intentional deceitful presentation of information on resumes, as well as the judgment of situations with ethical content. Design/methodology/approach The study is comprised of Jewish adult participants that submitted a resume in search of a job in the past 30 weeks in Israel. The questionnaire included questions regarding resume fraud, tolerance towards unethical and illegal behaviors and demographic and occupational questions. Findings The authors' results indicate that religious status may be a predictor of resume deception. Religious applicants reported more rigorous moral ethics, manifested by less tolerant attitudes toward unethical and illegal behaviors in comparison to seculars, which in turn, were associated with decreased tendency to deceive on resumes. Practical implications For many countries, and especially emerging markets, the Covid pandemic negatively affected the economy and creating sufficient employment may be a challenge. A better understanding of the personal factors associated with problematic job searching behaviors is relevant. Originality/value Despite the recognized importance of religion as a social force with a foundational role in ethical development, there is a lack of research on the impact of religiosity on ethical decisions in the labor market. The authors propose explanations for the results based on the theory of planned behavior and perceptions of normative beliefs.