Choosing by religion: Similarity–attraction and religious beliefs in social media assessments

Abstract

Social media assessments in selection increasingly expose applicants' religious beliefs, yet the implications of growing religious diversity in applicant pools remain underexplored. Leveraging social identity theory and the similarity–attraction paradigm, we examine how recruiters respond when applicants openly share their religious beliefs on social media (e.g., LinkedIn). To this end, U.S. working professionals evaluated an applicant's hireability based on a manipulated LinkedIn profile in a 4 (religious belief: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, control) by 2 (qualification: low vs. high) design. In Study 1 ( N  = 372), a religion‐stratified sample screened a mid‐20s female applicant. In Study 2 ( N  = 294), participants screened a mid‐60s male applicant. Across both studies, we found that similarity in religious beliefs increased raters' liking of the applicant, which in turn predicted ratings of task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and overall hireability (e.g., interview invitations), above and beyond the applicant's actual qualifications. This bias was further shaped by both individual (rater religiosity, Study 1) and contextual moderators (news engagement with a religiously charged event, i.e., the Israel–Hamas War). Together, our findings position similarity perceptions as a central mechanism through which religious beliefs and social media assessments can influence hiring decisions.