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The effects of attractiveness of writer and penmanship on essay grades
Abstract
This study examines the effects of penmanship and the physical attractiveness of the writer upon essay assessment. An essay which was always exactly the same in content was assessed by a large number of school teachers and by some students. Some of the assessors received the essay in typed form, for some it was written in good handwriting and for some the handwriting was poor. A photograph of the supposed author of the essay was attached to it via a report card. This portrait photograph was of a male or a female who was either highly physically attractive or rather unattractive. It was found that when the authors were female the ratings given to the essays were influenced by the factors of penmanship and attractiveness. No such effects were found if the authors were male. The implications of such findings for educational and employment application settings are discussed.
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“Factors that occasionally influence an instructor's scoring of written work include the penmanship of the author (Bull and Stevens, 1979), sex of the author (Spear, 1984), ethnicity of the author (Fajardo, 1985), level of experience of the instructor (Weigle, 1999), order in which the papers are reviewed (Farrell and Gilbert, 1960; Spear, 1996), and even the attractiveness of the author (Bull and”
From Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently) (2014) · cites this paper as Bull and Stevens, 1979
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Cited by
Eagly, A. H., Ashmore, R. D., Makhijani, M. G., & Longo, L. C. (1991) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.109 · Cited by 1,875
Reliability and validity of rubrics for assessment through writing
Rezaei, A. R., & Lovorn, M. (2010) · Assessing Writing · doi:10.1016/j.asw.2010.01.003 · Cited by 312
Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently)
Schinske, J., & Tanner, K. (2014) · CBE—Life Sciences Education · doi:10.1187/cbe.cbe-14-03-0054 · Cited by 326
It Is More Than Just the Message: Presentation Effects in Scoring Writing
Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Hebert, M. A. (2011) · Focus on Exceptional Children · doi:10.17161/foec.v44i4.6687 · Cited by 158
Attributions of personality based on physical appearance, speech, and handwriting.
Warner, R. M., & Sugarman, D. B. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.4.792 · Cited by 100
Metadata
- Authors
- BULL, R., & STEVENS, J.
- Corresponding author
- BULL, RAY
- ORCID
- BULL, RAY
- Venue
- Journal of Occupational Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1979-03
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 53-59
- ISSN
- 0305-8107 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2102297673
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 6.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Occupational Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
- Social Sciences › Education › Writing and Handwriting Education
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Keywords
- physical attractiveness, handwriting, essay scoring, gender differences, teacher ratings, student assessment
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