Changing public attitudes toward the employment of formerly incarcerated people: the role of “human resources social advocacy”

This registered report aims to evaluate the extent to which the human resources function can change public attitudes toward a controversial social issue. Focusing on the employment of formerly incarcerated people, we explore the novel concept of “human resources social advocacy” (HRSA), an interventionist approach through which HR might pro-actively change and/or shape people's minds on social issues. We find that two HRSA interventions are effective in significantly reducing prejudice against formerly incarcerated people. The first intervention appeals to people's moral sensibilities (“Changing Hearts”); the other makes an instrumental case (“Changing Minds”). In both instances, public stigma toward the employment of formerly incarcerated people was attenuated. This research has important implications for the “societal effects” of human resource management.