Backlash Effect on Highly Skilled North African Males Seeking Professional Advancement in France

Abstract

Abstract. This study was carried out within the context of an assessment for promotion to a high-status position. It aimed to determine the conditions in which the backlash effect occurs in a group characterized by negative stereotypes owing to their ethnicity: North African males in France. One hundred twenty-eight recruitment professionals assessed the probability of promoting one of eight fictitious male applicants with different causal attributions (internal or external) and levels of technical competence (high or average), and of different ethnicities (European or North African). Internal attribution, one of the dimensions of self-promotion, was regarded as a counterstereotypical behavior for a North African applicant compared with a European applicant. Backlash was only observed in a high-threat context.