Bakgrund: Finansiellt beslutsfattande är en central del i den finansiella rådgivningen gentemot privatpersoner och det gemensamma branschorganet SwedSec har uppmärksammat psykologiska fallgropars roll i den finansiella rådgivningen. Den finansiella rådgivarens roll är att, bland annat, hjälpa sina kunder hantera de psykologiska fallgropar de kan råka ut för vid investeringar. Därför finns incitament att undersöka hur rådgivare i rådgivningsprocessen hanterar den eventuella förekomsten av anchoring och framing, samt hur väl de känner till dem. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka finansiella rådgivares kännedom kring anchoring och framing, samt hur de upplever och hanterar fenomenen som en del av rådgivningsprocessen gentemot privatpersoner med ett placerbart kapital under 2 miljoner kronor. Vidare syftar studien till att analysera hur dessa psykologiska fallgropar kan tydas i den finansiella rådgivningsprocessen. Metod: Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod för att uppfylla studiens syfte. Datainsamlingen har bestått av nio semi-strukturerade djupintervjuer med SwedSeclicensierade finansiella rådgivare. Vidare har en abduktiv ansats antagits, för att kunna bidra med en intressant analys kring det studerade ämnet samt nå en slutsats. Slutsats: Studien finner att rådgivarnas kännedom är låg kring behavioral finance i allmänhet och anchoring och framing i synnerhet, även om förekomsten av de psykologiska fallgroparna uppmärksammats i studien. Trots låg kännedom har ungefär hälften av respondenterna utvecklat medvetna strategier för att hantera anchoring och framing. Hos de rådgivare som inte utvecklat medvetna strategier finner studien stöd för en omedveten hantering. Vidare kan studien inte ge stöd för att anchoring och framing utgör ett problem i rådgivningsprocessen gentemot privatpersoner med ett placerbart kapital under 2 miljoner kronor. / Background: Financial decision making is a central part of the financial advisory process for individuals, and the organization SwedSec has acknowledged the role of biases in the advisory process. The role of the financial advisor is, amongst other things, to protect their customers from biases in investments. Therefore, it is of interest to examine how well the advisors manage any presence of anchoring and framing, and the advisor's knowledge of them. Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the financial advisor's knowledge regarding anchoring as well as framing, and how they handle these factors as part of the advisory process towards clients with funds of no more than 2 million SEK. Furthermore, the thesis aims to analyze how these biases can take shape in the advisory process. Method: The thesis has, to fulfill its purpose, used a qualitative method. Empirical data has been gathered through nine semi-structured interviews with SwedSec-licensed financial advisors. Furthermore, the thesis has taken on an abductive approach, to contribute with an interesting analysis of the subject and to reach a conclusion. Conclusion: The thesis finds that the financial advisor's knowledge about behavioral finance in general, along with anchoring and framing in particular, is low. The thesis, however, supports these biases existence in the advisory process. Regardless of the lack of knowledge, about half of the respondents have developed aware methods to handle the biases. The thesis shows that the advisors without aware methods handle the biases unconsciously. Furthermore, the thesis cannot support that anchoring and framing constitutes a problem in the advisory process towards clients with funds under 2 million SEK.

The extensive literature on financial literacy has sought to explain financial behaviours and decisions. On the asset side of the balance sheet, financial literacy is associated with good financial practice and wealth accumulation. On the liability side, however, the contribution of financial literacy to individuals’ financial decisions is not entirely clear. To add to this literature, as well as that of behavioural finance and alternative financial services, this research develops a conceptual framework based on Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behaviour (TPB). This framework links individuals’ attitudes to financial matters, subjective norms, perceived feasibility, financial knowledge, and behavioural biases that include overconfidence and present bias on the decision to obtain high-interest loans. The empirical tests of the developed framework suggest that individuals in distinct socio-economic groups have different antecedents that lead to borrowing from alternative financial services. For instance, individuals from low-income households are more likely to obtain these loans if they: do not have access to other forms of credit; struggle to pay their bills; are unemployed; or do not have access to advice from finance professionals. In turn, individuals from high-income households are more likely to obtain these loans if they lack financial knowledge or have behavioural biases like overconfidence or present bias. These results suggest the importance of access to professional advice while ensuring access to traditional means of obtaining credit for low-income individuals in order to reduce the negative effects of these high-interest loans. The results also confirm the importance of current policy initiatives to implement basic finance education in public school curriculums, and the urgency to seek effective approaches to address individuals’ cognitive assumptions.

No description available.

Bien que l’inclusion des personnes avec un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) progresse dans le milieu professionnel, les études menées sur l’adaptation des processus de dotation pour ces dernières par les entreprises restent rares et n’ont pas été actualisées. L’objectif de ce mémoire est de comprendre les leviers et les freins apparaissant dans les moyennes et grandes entreprises privées canadiennes lors du processus de dotation pour les personnes présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) sans déficience intellectuelle et sans ou avec légère altération du langage. Dans un contexte de pénurie et de volonté de diversification de la main-d'œuvre, les entreprises s’investissent dans l’inclusion des personnes avec un TSA. Néanmoins, l’accès à certains milieux professionnels reste encore très difficile pour ces personnes. Pour essayer de comprendre ce phénomène, la présente étude se base sur la théorie des biais cognitifs et des heuristiques qui influencent inconsciemment les actions et la prise de décision des recruteurs. Lors de cette étude exploratoire, une méthodologie qualitative avec des entretiens auprès d’un échantillon de douze individus a été appliquée auprès d’entreprises et de spécialistes. Les résultats de l’étude exploratoire et de la revue de littérature listeront des leviers et freins rencontrés tout au long du processus de dotation par les personnes présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme. L’analyse qui en découle proposera des solutions d’adaptation que les entreprises peuvent mettre en place dans leurs processus de dotation. / Although the inclusion of people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the workplace is increasing, studies on the adaptation of staffing processes for them by companies are still scarce and have not been updated. The objective of this thesis is to understand the levers and obstacles appearing in large Canadian private companies during the staffing process for people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability and without or with slight language impairment. In a context of shortage and desire to diversify the workforce, companies are investing in the inclusion of people with ASD. Nevertheless, access to certain professional environments remains very difficult for these people. To try to understand this phenomenon, this study is based on the theory of cognitive biases and heuristics that unconsciously influence the actions and decision-making of recruiters. In this exploratory study, a qualitative methodology with interviews of a sample of twelve individuals was applied to companies and specialists. The results of the exploratory study and the literature review will list the levers and obstacles encountered throughout the staffing process by people with autism spectrum disorders. The resulting analysis will propose adaptation solutions that companies can implement in their staffing processes.

Thèse de doctorat présenté en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en psychologie - recherche intervention, option psychologie clinique (Ph.D) / Les biais cognitifs sont des tendances qu’ont les individus à traiter l’information d’une certaine manière. Le terme biais réfère au fait que ces tendances sont souvent répétitives et rigides. Bien que l’on retrouve des biais cognitifs chez tous les individus, certains sont plus spécifiquement liés à la psychose et pourraient expliquer certains symptômes liés aux troubles psychotiques. Le premier objectif de cette thèse est d’examiner le niveau de preuve, ainsi que la taille de l’effet de l’association entre les biais de raisonnement et d’interprétation et les caractéristiques psychotiques (troubles psychotiques, symptômes psychotiques, expériences psychotiques sous-cliniques (psychotic-like experiences) et le risque de développer une psychose (psychosis risk)) ainsi que le niveau de preuve et la taille de l’effet des interventions psychologiques sur les biais cognitifs auprès de personnes ayant des caractéristiques psychotiques. Le deuxième objectif est d’explorer les biais cognitifs de manière transdiagnostique chez les individus ayant un trouble psychotique ou un trouble dépressif majeur. La première étude est une méta-revue portant sur les biais cognitifs associés aux caractéristiques psychotiques, et sur l’effet des interventions psychologique sur la modification des bais cognitifs. Cent-vingt-trois résultats provenant de quinze méta-analyses ont été évalués à l’aide du système Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE; Gotlib, 2010). Les résultats ont montré qu’un niveau de preuve modéré à élevé soutenait les liens en des caractéristiques psychotiques et certains biais cognitifs, notamment : les biais d’interprétation lorsque étudiés regroupés, l’externalisation des événements cognitifs, le biais d’autoprotection (self-serving bias), l’attribution d’intentions hostiles, la saillance aberrante, le biais d’inflexibilité cognitive ou (belief inflexibility bias) (lorsque mesuré avec Maudsley Assessment of Delusions Schedule (MADS ; Wessely et al., 1993) et le biais de sauter aux conclusions (jump to conclusions) lorsqu’étudiées avec des tâches expérimentales (le biais de la collecte de données (data-gathering bias)). Les autres biais étudiés par les méta-analyses incluses dans la méta-revue ne sont pas soutenus par un niveau de preuve suffisante (le biais de personnalisation (personalizing bias), le biais contre les indices infirmatoires (bias against disconfirmatory evidence ; BADE), le biais contre les indices confirmatoires (bias against confirmatory evidence ;BACE), et le biais d’acceptation libérale (liberal acceptance bias)). Certains biais cognitifs étaient notamment liés aux symptômes similaires à la psychose chez des personnes en santé et chez des personnes à risque élevé de psychose. Un niveau de preuve modéré-élevé soutient un petit effet de taille des interventions psychologiques sur les biais cognitifs. La deuxième étude est une validation francophone du CBQp. Le questionnaire a été traduit et validé auprès de personnes ayant un trouble psychotique (N=30), un trouble dépressif (N=32) et dans un groupe normatif (N=663). Une analyse transdiagnostique par regroupements hiérarchiques de profils de biais cognitifs a également été réalisée. Nos résultats ont révélé une structure factorielle similaire à celle des auteurs originaux, avec la solution à un facteur (évaluation d’un score de biais cognitifs global) étant la meilleure, mais les solutions à deux facteurs (évaluation de biais divisés en deux thèmes liés à la psychose) et cinq facteurs (évaluation de cinq biais cognitifs différents) étaient les plus intéressantes cliniquement. Finalement, une solution à six regroupements a émergé de l’analyse par regroupements hiérarchiques, suggérant que des individus ayant des diagnostics similaires peuvent avoir des profils de biais cognitifs différents, et que des individus ayant des diagnostics différents peuvent avoir des profils de biais cognitifs similaires. Davantage d’études et de méta-analyses sont nécessaires pour mieux identifier les liens entre certains biais cognitifs et les caractéristiques psychotiques pour lesquels il n’y a aucune méta-analyse sur des échantillons cliniques, tels que le biais d’attribution d’intentions hostiles (hostility attribution bias), la saillance aberrante et le biais de sauter aux conclusions (lorsque mesurés avec des questionnaires autorapportés). D'autres biais étudiés par des méta-analyses chez des populations cliniques (par exemple, le biais de personnalisation, le biais contre les indices infirmatoires, le biais contre les indices confirmatoires et le biais d'acceptation libérale) doivent encore faire l'objet de recherches supplémentaires de qualité avant de pouvoir conclure sur leur relation avec les caractéristiques psychotiques. Une méta-analyse clarifiant les biais cognitifs spécifiques qui sont altérés par des interventions cognitives (spécifiques également) pourrait nous aider à mieux comprendre les composantes les plus efficaces des interventions sur les différents biais cognitifs, et ainsi améliorer les interventions actuelles. Les associations entre différents biais cognitifs et les symptômes similaires à la psychose dans les études analogues suggèrent également que d’autres groupes populationnels pourraient bénéficier d’interventions ciblant les biais cognitifs, la présence de ces biais et symptômes se retrouvant sur un spectre. Finalement, les résultats de notre deuxième étude nous laissent croire qu’il serait intéressant d’évaluer la présence de différents biais cognitifs de manière transdiagnostique à l’aide d’autres instruments de mesure. Notre version francophone du questionnaire de biais cognitifs pour la psychose pourra être utilisée auprès de populations francophones. / Cognitive biases are individual tendencies to process information in a certain way. The term bias refers to the fact that these tendencies are often rigid and repetitive. Although cognitive biases are found in all individuals, some are more specifically related to psychosis and may explain some of the symptoms associated with psychotic disorders. The first aim of this thesis is to examine the quality of evidence and effect size of the association between reasoning and interpretation biases and psychotic features (psychotic disorders, psychotic symptoms, psychotic-like experiences and psychosis risk) as well as the quality of evidence and effect size of psychotic interventions on cognitive biases in individuals with psychotic features. The second objective is to explore cognitive biases transdiagnostically in individuals with a psychotic disorder or a major depressive disorder. The first study is a meta-review on cognitive biases associated with psychotic features, and on the effects of psychological interventions on cognitive biases. One hundred and twenty-three outcomes from 15 meta-analyses were assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE; Gotlib, 2010). The results showed that moderate to high-quality evidence supported links between psychotic features and certain cognitive biases, namely: interpretation biases when studied together, the externalization of cognitive events, the self-serving bias, the hostility attributions bias, the aberrant salience bias, belief inflexibility bias (when measured with Maudsley Assessment of Delusions Schedule (MADS; Wessely et al., 1993) and the jumping to conclusion bias when measured with experimental tasks (the data-gathering bias). The other biases studied by the meta-analyses included in the meta-review are not supported by sufficient quality of evidence (the personalizing bias, the bias against disconfirmatory evidence, the bias against confirmatory evidence, and the liberal acceptance bias). Some cognitive biases were notably related to psychosis-like symptoms in healthy people and in people at high risk of psychosis. Moderate-high-quality evidence supports a small effect size of psychological interventions on cognitive biases. The second study is a French validation of the CBQp. The questionnaire was translated and validated with people with a psychotic disorder (N=30), a depressive disorder (N=32) and in a normative group (N=663). A cross-diagnostic analysis by hierarchical clustering of cognitive bias profiles was also performed. Our results showed a similar factor structure to that of the original authors, with the one-factor solution (assessment of a global cognitive bias score) being the strongest, but the two-factor (assessment of biases divided into two psychosis-related themes) and five-factor (assessment of five different cognitive biases) solutions being the most clinically interesting. Finally, a six-cluster solution emerged from the hierarchical cluster analysis, suggesting that individuals with similar diagnoses may have different cognitive bias profiles, and that individuals with different diagnoses may have similar cognitive bias profiles. More studies and meta-analyses are needed to better understand links between certain cognitive biases and psychotic features, including the hostility attribution bias and the aberrant salience, and the jump to conclusions bias when measured with self-report questionnaires, for which there is no meta-analysis in clinical studies. Other biases studied reviewed by meta-analyses on clinical populations (e.g. the personalizing bias, the bias against disconfirmatory evidence, the bias against confirmatory evidence, and the liberal acceptance bias) still need further quality research before being able to conclude about their relation with psychotic characteristics. A meta-analysis of the effect of specific psychological interventions on the different cognitive biases targeted by them could also help us to identify which specific interventions are effective on the different cognitive biases, and thus improve current interventions. Associations between different cognitive biases and psychosis-like symptoms in non-clinical studies also suggest that other population groups may benefit from interventions that have been developed to target cognitive biases, as the presence of these biases and symptoms occur across a spectrum. Finally, the results from our second study suggest that it would be interesting to assess the presence of different cognitive biases transdiagnostically using other measurement instruments. Our French version of the cognitive bias questionnaire for psychosis is now available to be used with French-speaking populations.

No description available.

[pt] O presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar os impactos dos fatores comportamentais e organizacionais sobre as decisões relacionadas à inserção de critérios de sustentabilidade nas compras públicas do setor público brasileiro. Com base nas lentes teóricas da estratégia comportamental e das compras públicas sustentáveis, foram relacionados dados do levantamento (Survey) e das pesquisas bibliográfica e documental. Assim, foram identificadas as variáveis extraídas da literatura e selecionadas, por meio da Análise Fatorial Exploratória. Em seguida, foram utilizadas Análise de Cluster e as técnicas MANOVA e ANOVA, o que permitiu constatar que os órgãos do Poder Executivo tendem a considerar o Controle como fator organizacional menos importante e a Capacitação como o mais importante em relação aos outros fatores da categoria – comportamento observado na maioria dos órgãos estaduais e municipais. Por outro lado, percebeu-se que há uma tendência nas instituições federais de considerarem o Controle como o fator organizacional que mais impacta as decisões sobre inclusão de critérios de sustentabilidade nas contratações públicas, enquanto, para este grupo, as variáveis Custo, Capacitação e Normas são as que menos impactam. No que diz respeito aos fatores comportamentais, nota-se uma maior tendência das instituições do Executivo e de grande parte das instituições estaduais e municipais em considerarem as variáveis Viés Disponibilidade, Comportamento Tendencioso e Viés Status Quo como mais impactantes nas decisões de sustentabilidade nas contratações públicas em comparação com as instituições do Judiciário, dos Ministérios Públicos e das Cortes de Contas. Por fim, pôde-se observar ainda que as instituições do Executivo e de grande parte das instituições estaduais e municipais tendem a enfatizar mais os fatores organizacionais e comportamentais que as instituições de outros poderes e de outros entes federativos. / [en] The present study aims to evaluate the impacts of behavioral and organizational factors on decisions related to the inclusion of sustainability criteria in public procurement in the Brazilian public sector. Based on the theoretical lens of behavioral strategy and sustainable public procurement, data from the survey (Survey) and bibliographic and documentary research were related. Thus, the variables extracted from the literature and selected through Exploratory Factor Analysis were identified. Then, Cluster Analysis and the MANOVA and ANOVA techniques were used, which made it possible to verify that the Executive Power bodies tend to consider Control as the least important organizational factor and Training as the most important in relation to the other factors of the category - behavior observed in most state and municipal agencies. On the other hand, it was noticed that there is a tendency in federal institutions to consider Control as the organizational factor that most impacts decisions on the inclusion of sustainability criteria in public procurement, while, for this group, the variables Cost, Training and Standards are the ones with the least impact. With regard to behavioral factors, there is a greater tendency of Executive institutions and a large part of state and municipal institutions to consider the variables Availability Bias, Biased Behavior and Status Quo Bias as the most impacting on sustainability decisions in public procurement compared to the institutions of the Judiciary, Public Prosecutors Offices and Courts of Accounts. Finally, it was also possible to observe that the institutions of the Executive and most of the state and municipal institutions tend to emphasize organizational and behavioral factors more than the institutions of other powers and other federative entities.

Sammanfattning Titel: Ska man klappa börsen med- eller mothårs? Författare: Josef Dotevall och Kristoffer Ekengren Landenmark Handledare: Katarina Eriksson Bakgrund: De allra flesta med ett någorlunda intresse eller erfarenhet från den finansiella marknaden har hört talas om den effektiva marknadshypotesen. Den säger att det inte är möjligt att överavkasta marknaden över tid genom att systematiskt implementera investeringsstrategier. Samtidigt visar forskning om psykologiska faktorer på att individer på aktiemarknaden emellertid kan reagera irrationellt och att det därav går att överavkasta marknaden genom att dra nytta av de felaktiga prissättningar som kan uppstå på marknaden. Därför blir det intressant att testa huruvida en implementering av momentum- och contrarianstrategier vid investeringsbeslut kan leda till en överavkastning på indexet OMX Stockholm Mid Cap PI. Detta är även intressant för att ingen tidigare studie har testat dessa strategiers effekt på detta index. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka ifall det är möjligt att uppnå överavkastning på OMX Stockholm Mid Cap PI genom att implementera momentumoch contrarianstrategier som investeringsstrategier under perioden 2012 till 2021. Metod: En kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats tillämpades vid genomförandet av studien. Åtta fiktiva olika portföljer sattes samman, fyra contrarianportföljer och fyra momentumportföljer, med bolag som varit en del av indexet OMX Stockholm Mid Cap PI under perioden 2012–2021. Varje portföljkategori delades sedan in i olika urvalsoch innehavsperioder. Varje portfölj innehöll fem bolag åt gången. Sedermera utfördes statistiska tester för att analysera portföljernas avkastning och riskjusterade avkastning. Resultat: Tre av studiens åtta sammansatta portföljer uppvisade en avkastning som var signifikant högre än jämförelseindexet. Resterande fem portföljer uppvisade en avkastning som var signifikant lägre än index. Endast en av portföljerna hade en högre riskjusterad avkastning än jämförelseindexet. / Abstract Title: Should you bet for or against the stock market? Authors: Josef Dotevall och Kristoffer Ekengren Landenmark Supervisor: Katarina Eriksson Background: Almost everyone who has an interest in finance or have studied some form of finance has heard of the efficient market hypothesis. The efficient market hypothesis says that the market is priced correctly and that all actors on the market are rational. However, previous studies about psychological factors says that actors on the stock market sometimes act irrational, which makes it possible to reach excess returns. Therefore, it is interesting to test the momentum and contrarian strategies potential effects on the index OMX Stockholm Mid Cap PI when no previous study has explored these strategies effect on this specific index. Purpose: The study aims to analyse the possibility of reaching excess return on OMX Stockholm Mid Cap PI by implementing momentum and contrarian strategies as investment strategies in the period between 2012 and 2021. Methodology: The study has utilized a deductive and quantitative approach to complete the aim of the report. Eight fictive portfolios were put together, four contrarian portfolios and four momentum portfolios, containing stocks included in the OMXSPI Mid Cap. Each portfolio category then was divided into different selection and holding periods. Each portfolio always contained five companies at the same time. Then statistical tests were performed to analyse the portfolios returns and risk adjusted returns. Conclusion: Three of the eight portfolios showed a statistically significant excess return compared with the benchmark index. The other five portfolios showed a significantly lower return than the benchmark index. Only one portfolio performed a higher riskadjusted return than the benchmark based on the Sharpe ratio.

Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) are very bright cosmological explosions signalling the catastrophic formation of a black hole. Therefore, they act like real light beacons that could be detected through-out the Universe and be used as probes to study the contents and phases of the early Universe. However, only a handful sample is known so far. This is for two reasons: instrumental biases that may prevent their detection and the difficulty to find a near Infrared counterpart preventing their redshift measurements. The wide-field trigger camera ECLAIRs to-fly on-board the Space-based multi-band Variable Object Monitor (SVOM) mission will detect γ-/X-ray transients down to energies of 4 keV, as well as creating an alert for multi-wavelength/messenger follow-ups. My study focuses on analysing how ECLAIRs will detect GRBs, and more particularly high-redshift GRBs, based on a well-selected sample of GRBs with redshift measurement associated (see Section 2). Studying how ECLAIRs will see them may help identifying possible instrument biases as well as common observational characteristics for such GRBs that may be used in turn to recognise such special GRBs once SVOM will be launched. Using software tools developed within the ECLAIRs collaboration, I built an end-to-end simulator which I used to simulate the detection by ECLAIRs of the GRBs in the sample at their original redshift and higher redshifts (up to z = 15). I implemented a suited version of the count-rate trigger on-board ECLAIRs to assess the detectability of these bursts, and I retrieved their duration over the background when detected (see Section 2). The analysis shows good performance for detecting high-redshift GRBs in the centre of the Field of View (fully-coded), but significantly reduced, in comparison to other GRBs, for partially-coded detection. 5 of the GRBs with z > 3.83 present a successful detection up to at least z = 15 (see Section 3). The retrieved rest-frame duration of a GRB remains constant for several redshifts in the simulations if the detected burst did not present a low-flux emission in their lightcurve, which is common for high redshift GRBs. On the other hand, if the original lightcurve of a burst presents this low-flux emission, it becomes buried in noise when simulating it at higher redshifts. This confirms the tip-of-the-iceberg detection bias which depends on the lightcurve burst morphology, and it may explain why the current sample seems to present lower burst durations at higher redshifts.

The study was based on cognitive biases with the aim of investigating the extent to which the individual's physical appearance affects the hiring process, and whether individuals who are perceived as more attractive are ascribed more positive characteristics. The study was conducted with a quantitative method, where the data collection was done via an online survey with 62 respondents, the majority of whom had previous experience of decision- making in a recruitment context. The respondents were asked to rate perceived attractiveness, characteristics and employability in four different individuals by looking at different facial images. All questions and rating scales on the questionnaire were based on the validated instruments Competence and warmth scale (CWS) and Job Suitability Scale (JSS). The results showed that more attractive people have a higher mean value than less attractive people in CWS and JSS. It was concluded that the individual's appearance has a significant impact in the hiring process, and that there is a tendency to attribute more positive characteristics to people who are considered more attractive compared to those who are judged to be less attractive. / Studien utgick från kognitiva fördomar med syftet att undersöka i vilken grad individens fysiska utseende påverkar anställningsprocessen, samt om individer som uppfattas som mer attraktiva tillskrivs mer positiva egenskaper. Studien genomfördes med en kvantitativ metod, där datainsamlingen skedde via en online-enkät med 62 respondenter, varav majoriteten hade tidigare erfarenhet av beslutsfattande inom rekryteringssammanhang. Respondenterna fick skatta upplevd attraktivitet, egenskaper och anställningsbarhet hos fyra olika individer genom att titta på olika ansiktsbilder. Samtliga frågor och skattningsskalor på enkäten utgick utifrån de validerade instrumenten Competence and warmth scale (CWS) och Job Suitability Scale (JSS). Resultatet visade att mer attraktiva personer har högre medelvärde än mindre attraktiva personer i CWS och JSS. Sammanfattningsvis drogs slutsatsen att individens utseende har en betydande inverkan i anställningsprocessen, samt att det finns en tendens att attribuera mer positiva egenskaper till personer som anses vara mer attraktiva jämfört med de som bedöms som mindre attraktiva.