Religious symbols, such as the hijab, are often deemed undesirable or banned in public employment. We test if clients’ perceptions and their performance are influenced by a hijab-wearing public servant, and further test if clients’ reflections on empathy or professionalism about the public servant mitigate potential negative effects. We preregistered and conducted a two-step 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment ( n = 2,680; representative sample in Austria). We find no evidence that the wearing of a hijab by a public servant negatively influences clients’ perceptions, nor their performance during a public service process. The reflection answer with respect to professionalism or empathy, however, is related to clients’ performance: Clients’ positive reflection on public servants’ empathy or professionalism—independent of whether the public servant wears a hijab or not—positively relates to their performance in terms of task correctness. We discuss the relevance of these results regarding religious stereotyping and public employment policies.

中文翻译：

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头巾效应也有吗？客户对戴头巾公务员的专业精神和同理心的反思

宗教象征，例如头巾，通常被认为是不受欢迎的或禁止在公共就业中使用。我们测试了客户的看法和他们的表现是否受到戴头巾的公务员的影响，并进一步测试了客户对公务员的同理心或专业精神的反思是否减轻了潜在的负面影响。我们预先注册并进行了两步 2 × 3 受试者间实验（n = 2,680；奥地利的代表性样本）。我们没有发现任何证据表明公务员戴头巾会对客户的看法及其在公共服务过程中的表现产生负面影响。然而，关于专业精神或同理心的反思答案与客户的表现有关：客户对公务员同理心或专业精神的积极反思——无论公务员是否戴头巾——与他们在以下方面的表现呈正相关：任务的正确性。我们讨论这些结果与宗教成见和公共就业政策的相关性。