To Include, or Not to Include? Accuracy of Personality Judgments from Resumes with and Without Photographs

Abstract. We investigated whether including an applicant’s photograph on a resume boosts or hampers the accurate assessment of that person’s (Big Five) personality traits and intelligence. A group of 114 participants rated 8 applicants (4 men and 4 women) with respect to their personality traits and intelligence. We used a 3 × 2 (Condition [resume with photograph, resume without photograph, photograph only] × Sex [male, female]) between-subjects design. In all conditions, all personality traits (except Agreeableness) were assessed at better than guessing level. Including a photograph on the resume did not significantly alter the accuracy of personality assessment.