How Friendship Ties Impact Hiring Decisions - A Cross-Cultural Study between Latin America and the United States

Abstract

Previous research has found evidence for the impact of friendship ties on human resource selection decision making. The objective of this current study is to find how friendship ties impact hiring decisions in two culturally different contexts, the United States and Latin America. In collectivist Latino countries, it is predicted that friendship ties would play more of a role in selection decisions than in the individualistic context of the United States. Survey data was collected from 193 professionals in both cultural contexts. Results support our hypotheses that friendship ties impact human resource decisions, and this association is stronger in the collectivist context of Brazil.