Less Opportunity or More Equity? Implications of Individualism and Collectivism on Applicants’ Reaction to Ai Selection

There is still inadequate knowledge about how AI selection affects people’s perceptions of fairness and attitudes towards firms. This paper explores how collectivism and individualism affect people’s perceptions of fairness and their attitudes towards firms in AI selection. Three experiments answer the questions above. In Study 1 (N1 = 427), we show that Chinese (collectivist cultures) applicants perceive selection as fairer and have more positive attitudes toward the company compared to Americans (individualism cultures). In Study 2 (N2 = 333), we directly prove this effect in individualists and collectivists. In Study 3 (N3 = 330), we determine those different perceptions of fairness in the selection process are due to individualistic and collectivistic individuals’ perceptions of AI selection’s consistency and opportunity to perform differently. Our research contributes, among others, to the literature on fairness perceptions with AI selection and individualism/collectivism. Moreover, we present practical guidance on applying AI selection of firms