Introduction

Decisions related to other people happen to be biased with irrationality. This is due to the fact that they remain influenced by prejudice, superstition, preferences of the decision-makers. The lack of full rationality in decision-making is not only limited to our private life. It is also present in our professional life. And even if it is stressed in management that decisions should be based on merit, practice shows that other criteria not related to merit also have their weight in the whole process. This applies among others to decisions related to human resources management (HRM), where the evaluation of candidates (as part of the selection process) and employees (within the appraisal process, in regarding of remuneration or promotion) is very present.

As one of the non-merit-based criteria, we can refer to a broadly defined attractiveness of the person being assessed. Such attractiveness is expressed at the physical level—sometimes considered to be the same as sexual attractiveness (Amos and McCabe 2015, pp. 11–122) and at the interpersonal as well as at the emotional level. There are several studies confirming that a person’s attractiveness influences their position on the internal and external job market. For example, Baert and Decuypere (2014, pp. 597–601) demonstrated that the perceived candidate’s attractiveness is an important driver of a recruiter’s decision to invite a candidate for a job interview. Mitra (2001, pp. 731–735) and Hamermesh (2013) proved that the so-called premium on beauty really exists, meaning that attractive people’s salaries are higher on average by a few to over a dozen per cent in comparison to those considered unattractive, whereas experts from career builder (Employers Reveal… 2015) showed, based on a study conducted in the USA among 2175 HR managers from various institutions and industries, that an employee’s appearance does matter when making decisions about a possible promotion. At this point, it is worth noting that studies on human attractiveness are inhomogeneous. This is caused by the lack of a single, widely accepted definition of attractiveness. For this reason, in some empirical studies, attractiveness is reduced only to the physical level, while in others, it is approached in a much broader perspective (for example, it is also composed of attitudes, behaviours, sex appeal, psychophysical condition and interpersonal competencies). Such a broad perception of human attractiveness is similar to the construct that the British sociologist Hakim (2010, p. 501) called ‘erotic capital’.

It is not Hakim who forged the term ‘erotic capital’ though. The concept is mentioned in the works of Martin and George (2006, pp. 107–132) as well as in Green (2008, pp. 25–50), where it serves to describe human sexual behaviours in the context of social stratification. The term can also be found in Brooks (2010), Farrer (2010, pp. 69–95), Weinberg and Williams (2010, pp. 374–383), mainly as an element in the analysis of how we perceive transsexuality or in describing the erotic industry or erotic tourism. It appears however that it is only after 2010 that erotic capital really started to attract more attention. This is when two of Hakim’s works were published (one article and one monography) (2010, pp. 499–518; 2011). In her works, erotic capital is presented as an extensive construct, encompassing beauty, interpersonal attractiveness, sexual attractiveness, liveliness, appearance, sexuality and fertility.

Hakim’s concept enjoys a certain popularity. But although there are a number of works about erotic capital published in the second decade of this century, all are mainly written by sociologists and anthropologists (for example: Martí 2015, pp.55–62; Requena 2017, pp.13–18; Roubal 2019, pp. 707–716; Tang 2020, pp.190–208; Valdés 2019, pp. 87–108; Waters 2016, pp.25–51). There are however not so many experts in management interested in exploring the topic of erotic capital, while it does have a significant role in making and maintaining interpersonal relationships, which was proven by Hakim (2010, pp. 507–510) among others. Not only does it determine (to a certain extent) the private situation of a person but also the decisions related to human resources management, made with regard to an individual who is the owner of such capital. The influence of a person’s attractiveness on their professional life is obviously not devoid of ambiguity, especially if we take into account their sex, level in the hierarchy, suitability for a given position (Heilman and Stopeck 1985, pp. 202–215) or expected course of cooperation (Lee et al. 2015, pp. 15–28). Based on research conducted so far, authors have tended to conclude that the importance of erotic capital in professional life has significantly increased over the last decades (Anýžová and Matějů 2018, pp. 269–291).

In view of all this, we consider that HRM experts should not dismiss candidates’ and employees’ erotic capital as irrelevant and should instead start recognising its role in the appraisal processes and other decisions related to HRM. But, in order to be able to conduct reliable research in this field, first of all, we needed to conduct preliminary analyses showing precisely which variables are included in the making of the construct of erotic capital. It is all the more important in view of the criticism addressed at Hakim’s concept, highlighting that it is too extensive and remains to be validated with empirical studies. For these reasons, we decided to focus more on the construct of erotic capital. The main objective of the conducted study was to validate the construct of erotic capital in the context of its role in another person’s assessment (assessment intrinsically present in decision-making in the field of HRM)—the article describes the results of this validation. An additional goal was to develop a tool (questionnaire) for estimating the impact of the candidate's/employee's erotic capital on decisions being made concerning recruitment and appraisal in the organisation. In order to achieve these objectives, with the use of variables (selected based on the review of literature), we created a preliminary description of erotic capital. We built our research tool (survey questionnaire), which (together with construct characteristics) was first submitted for content and face validation. The research tool was amended (to account for content and face validation results) and used in a pilot study. The data collected on this occasion then served for the theoretical validation of the construct.

We would like to begin with a short presentation of the validation procedure. In subsequent sections, we will describe the respective stages of our research, starting with the results of the literature review related to erotic capital and its limitations. Subsequently, we will present steps that led to the development of our research tool, together with the results of content and face validity evaluation. We will also describe the process and results of the theoretical validation, which was conducted on the basis of (original) empirical studies’ results, using CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview). The conducted analyses prove that the construct (after the removal of 7 variables) fulfils the requirements of validity. Based on that, we could confirm its suitability for measuring erotic capital’s role in the assessment process in the area of decision-making within human resources management.

Procedure related to the development of the research tool and its validation

Works related to the development of the research tool consisted of 3 stages: (1) literature review, (2) content and face validation, (3) theoretical validation of the construct (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Stages related to the development and validation of the research tool

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Literature review

The first stage of the research was devoted to literature studies, aimed at understanding the theory (Garver and Mentzer 1999, pp. 33–57), in this particular case related to erotic capital. We concentrated on the concept developed by Hakim and other theories from a similar area, such as: Bourdieu’s (1986) concept of symbolic capital or the idea of interpersonal attractiveness as a multidimensional construct by McCroskey and McCain (1974, pp. 261–266).

According to Hakim’s concept, erotic capital is composed of seven elements, however the significance of the respective items varies in time and depends on certain norms typical for a given community. According to Hakim (2010, pp. 500–501; 2011, pp. 9–15), erotic capital of a person is composed of: (1) beauty, (2) sexual attractiveness, (3) social attractiveness, (4) liveliness, (5) presentation, (6) sexuality, (7) fertility. Beauty is clearly a central element of erotic capital, although there are cultural and temporal variations in ideas about what constitutes beauty. The modern emphasis on photogenic features means that men and women with large eyes and mouths and ‘sculptured’ faces are prioritised. Studies show that conventionality, symmetry and an even skin tone contribute to attractiveness. Great beauty is always in short supply and is therefore universally valorised. A second element of erotic capital is sexual attractiveness, which can be quite separate from classic beauty. To some extent, beauty is about facial attractiveness in the main, while sexual attractiveness is about a sexy body. However, sex appeal can also be about personality and style, femininity or masculinity, a way of being in the world, a characteristic of social interaction. Sexual attractiveness is about the way someone moves, talks, and behaves, so it can only be captured on film. Social attractiveness (a third element of erotic capital) is definitely social: grace, charm, social skills in interaction, the ability to make people like you, feel at ease and happy, want to know you, and, where relevant, desire you. Some men and women are skilled at discreet flirtation in all contexts; others are incapable. Again, these social skills have value. Liveliness is a mixture of physical fitness, social energy, and good humour. People who have a lot of life in them can be hugely attractive to others—as illustrated by people who are ‘the life and soul of the party’. In most cultures liveliness is displayed in dancing skills or sporting activities. Presentation concerns social presentation: style of dress, face-painting, perfume, jewellery or other adornments, hairstyles, and the various accessories that people carry or wear to announce their social status and style to the world. The sixth element of erotic capital is sexuality itself: sexual competence, energy, erotic imagination, playfulness, and everything else that makes for a sexually satisfying partner. This factor is listed last, as it usually applies only in private, intimate relationships. In some cultures, women’s erotic capital is closely tied to their fertility (a seventh component). In some cultures, this element carries huge additional weight. Alternatively, reproductive capital is a separate, seventh asset, which appears to be of lower value in the twenty-first century in modern societies than it was in agricultural societies characterised by high fertility.

Hakim defines erotic capital as a ‘combination of aesthetic, visual, physical, social, and sexual attractiveness to other members of your society, and especially to members of the opposite sex, in all social contexts’ (Hakim 2011, p. 15). In Hakim’s work, certain references can be found to Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital (1986), especially when she considers that erotic capital is the fourth component of the symbolic capital. A party (whether it is a person or an organisation) will therefore possess not only the economic, cultural and social capital, but also the erotic one, whose importance would vary in different fields of social and economic life. In addition, there are some noticeable similarities between Hakim’s works and the idea of interpersonal attraction as a multidimensional construct developed by McCroskey and McCain (1974, pp. 261–266). In this approach, interpersonal attractiveness of a person consists of the physical dimension (referring to a broadly defined external appearance), social dimension (whether a given person is perceived as kind/friendly, so that one wants to make and maintain a relationship with them), as well as a task-related dimension (such a person/organisation is considered trustworthy, capable of conducting their task or solving problems). Analogies are very clear—components of the erotic capital as per Hakim in reality appear in two dimensions of the interpersonal attractiveness (the physical and social one, according to McCroskey and McCaina). When it comes to task attraction, it can be perceived as the effect of ‘making use’ of one’s erotic capital (using and developing such capital, as postulated by Hakim).

Hakim’s concept triggered a lot of controversy. Addressed criticism relates, among others, to the structure of the construct as such, i.e. Hakim was criticised for having treated it too extensively. Indeed, the author went far beyond the traditional understanding of attractiveness as physical beauty, sex appeal or attractiveness at the sexual level (Frieze et al. 1991, pp.1039–1057; Hamermesh and Biddle 1994, pp. 1174–1194) which in our opinion is the advantage of her theory, filling a certain gap in how human attractiveness is perceived. Inconsistencies in her theory are in fact a direct consequence of the interdisciplinary character of her idea—as different components of erotic capital are studied and analysed not only by sociologists and biologists but also by culture experts, specialists in gender studies, biologists, medical doctors, anthropologists or historians. At this point, it is worth emphasising another controversy, i.e. Hakim stating openly that erotic capital is something that a person can develop and consciously use in social interactions (it referred mainly to women underlining their physical attractiveness—Green 2012, pp. 137–158). Hakim goes even further with her theses on certain aspects of erotic capital that might be developed, which draws her dangerously close to the realms of the sex industry and this kind of commercialisation of erotic capital (Neveu 2013, pp. 337–358). Consequently, some raised concerns that the concept of erotic capital might actually contribute to justifying inequality, the commoditisation of women and the instrumentalisation of their bodies (Wilde et al. 2020, pp. 1017–1031). We will leave these issues aside, although, at the same time, we understand their importance and ethical consequences that might follow. Those who analyse Hakim’s works on erotic capital highlight as well that they are addressed more to practitioners and not to the world of science. As a result, they might contain some colourful (and anecdotal) proofs that eroticism plays a role in various contexts of social life, but the concept of erotic capital still requires a coherent theoretical foundation and grounding in the results of empirical studies (Schmitz and Blossfeld 2013, pp. 136–137).

Based on the literature review, we could conclude that while it is possible to find articles on erotic capital’s relevance for human resources management, the topic is rarely raised in the field of management science. Examples of existing studies include interviews with employees and managers in the hotel industry (Abubakar et al. 2019, pp. 16–26) or a survey study conducted among Indonesian students focusing mainly on their beliefs around different elements of erotic capital (as per Hakim’s theory) and their importance for the recruitment process (Arifianto 2020, pp. 64–73). It should be highlighted however that such studies are usually inhomogeneous, the issue that was already raised in the introduction, and a big part is fragmentary—i.e. they mention the significance of only one selected dimension of erotic capital, mostly the physical attractiveness (for example an experiment held in Argentina exploring how offers from attractive candidates were perceived (Bóo et al. 2013, pp. 170–172), or a similar type of study conducted among Israeli recruiters (Ruffle and Shtudiner 2014, pp. 1770–1776). Results of the literature review confirm that Hakim’s concept is indeed vast, but it has the advantage of going beyond purely the sexual dimension of attractiveness or physical beauty analysed in previous works (ex. Frieze et al. 1991, pp. 1039–1057; Hamermesh and Biddle 1994, pp. 1174–1194). On top of this, it is a theory that confirms our view, according to which erotic capital of an individual is assessed (consciously or unconsciously) and as a result, plays a role in the decision-making processes within human resources management. Therefore, we have attempted to create a tool that would allow us to determine erotic capital’s role in the assessment of other people (at work among others).

Content and face validity

Based on literature studies, we designed our research tool (survey questionnaire). In the questionnaire, we focused on five out of the total of seven dimensions postulated by Hakim—we did not take into account sexuality and fertility, as they mainly apply to the private life of an individual and, as such, play a limited role in terms of management standards in Western cultures.

The questionnaire we designed was then submitted for evaluation in terms of content and face validity, procedures that are grounded in theory and not based on empirical study. Content validity describes to what extent the scale of measurement truly reflects the chosen semantic field of a given construct, that is content (Hoskisson et al. 1993, pp. 215–235). As such, it contributes to the reduction of semantic problems and helps to restrict the terminological diversity of similar notions. Face validity assessment is complimentary to content validity; together they account for the validation of variables (Bacharach 1989, pp. 496–515). Thus, the whole procedure serves to address the fundamental problem of whether a given measurement (for example a question in the questionnaire) is understood by the interviewee in the same way as intended by the researcher. This process is indispensable to check definitively if the adopted scale could be perceived as containing alternative indicators of the same construct (Gerbing and Anderson 1988, pp. 186–192). Debate over whether content validation requires participation of other experts than the researchers themselves remains inconclusive (Rossiter 2008, pp. 380–388). It is indicated, however, as part of good practice, to submit a tool being designed to experienced managers or academic experts in order to have it assessed for adequacy between the terms used and described reality (Hardesty and Bearden 2004, pp. 98–107).

As part of the second stage of validation, we conducted a series of interviews with 10 academic experts (January–March 2020). All of the experts deal with topics related to human resources management (some have education in the field of psychology). In accordance with the guidelines (Hardesty and Bearden 2004, pp. 98–107), the experts received (1) information on the different dimensions of the construct of erotic capital and (2) the project of the tool. Interviews were not formalised; participants communicated their remarks orally or in writing. The experts confirmed that categories proposed by Hakim were not entirely disjunct. They highlighted for example that liveliness, understood as a certain dynamic of behaviours, is at the same time an element of sexual attractiveness (i.e. the way of moving and making gestures). The same applies to the content scope of sexual and social attractiveness (the way of presenting one’s femininity or masculinity belongs to the wide spectrum of actions that account for one’s personal charm). Doubts communicated by the experts found confirmation in certain sociologists. Sarpila (2014, pp. 302–314) for example claims that erotic capital could just as well be regarded the same as the economic one (in the meaning of P. Bourdieu’s), if we consider that with adequate resources a person can change their body and create a socially approved image. According to us, this comment does not apply to the element of liveliness and its correlation with social attractiveness is negligible.

The first version of the questionnaire contained 44 statements. In the process of assessing content and face validity, the list was limited to 30 items describing 5 investigated components of erotic capital. Discussions with experts also led to a reformulation of some of the statements used in the questionnaire. The second stage of validation helped to eliminate statements that were unclear and to definitively assign items to different dimensions of the construct. After content and face validation, erotic capital was described with 30 variables (statements) that go into the making of 5 components (dimensions) of the construct (each dimension described with 6 statements)—Table 1; although the assignment of variables to respective dimensions was not displayed in the questionnaire (Appendix 1).

Table 1 Variables used in the empirical studies
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In the survey, participants were asked about the role of the respective factors in three situations: (1) meeting a new person in private life; (2) conducting a job interview with a person that one sees for the first time in life; (3) assessing a person (for example a colleague) that one has known already for some time. The ‘Job interview’ and ‘assessment’ were supposed to ‘symbolise’ actions that typically take place when a new person joins an organisation and when human resources are transformed.

The participants had to answer some hypothetical questions. ‘Hypothetical questions are used very frequently in many consumer, marketing, and public policy settings as part of legitimate research programs, and they are designed to act as information-gathering tools’ (Fitzsimons and Shiv 2001, p. 224). It was assumed that not every participant would have experience in recruiting and assessing. Additionally, we avoided asking questions related to situations in which they actually participated—we did not want the participants to take the question ‘too seriously’ (i.e. we did not want them to wonder if their response is ‘politically correct’).The advantage of hypothetical questions is that they help the participant to be released from real limitations. They also undermine protection mechanisms, because the person is not forced to refer to real experiences. Due to such a ‘just pretending’ way of approaching things, the person does not need to deal with the consequences of their choices.

The questionnaire contained closed questions. Answers were formulated in accordance with the five-level Likert scale. The following values were assigned to them: (1) ‘totally irrelevant’ (for questions related to the importance of different variables when meeting a new person in one’s private life) or ‘certainly, will have no influence’ ( for questions related to job interview and assessment of a person that one has already known for some time); (2) ‘rather irrelevant’ or ‘rather will not have influence’; (3) ‘difficult to say’; (4) ‘rather important’ or ‘rather will have influence’; (5) ‘very important’ or ‘no doubt it will have influence’. Values assigned to the respective answers were not indicated in the questionnaire. Answers were coded after the questionnaire was completed.

The respondent’s particulars section included: the gender and age of the interviewee; experience in conducting job interviews and in appraising other people (for example: colleagues, subordinates; professional experience; years worked (total).

Theoretical validation

The third stage of validation began with pilot studies. Research consisted of a diagnostic survey, which is used for studying weakly explored social phenomena (erotic capital’s role in assessing a candidate/employee belongs to this category). The study was conducted with the use of CAWI. The sourcing of volunteers for the study was conducted by using snowball sampling. A link to the modified questionnaire (including a request for further dissemination) was sent to potential participants by e-mail; it was also published on the Facebook profiles of the authors. The study was performed in 2021 (March–April). An online questionnaire was completed by 311 subjects—216 women (69%) and 95 men (31%). The age range of the participants was between 19 and 61, but the largest group consisted of young people between 21 and 25 years of age (51% of all participants in total). 102 (33%) declared having experience in conducting job interviews, while 195 (63%) had experience in appraising other people in work-related contexts (i.e. they already had a chance to assess subordinates, collaborators, students). More than 90% of the respondents had professional experience: 203 people (65%) declared being/or previously being employed full-time, 97 (31%) declared working/or having worked part-time. Only 11 subjects (4%) did not have any professional experience. We decided to include the answers from people who declared having no work experience for two reasons. Firstly, they can imagine being in the situations described in the questionnaire while answering. Secondly, the tests that were previously conducted (Levene`s test, Anova) revealed that neither professional experience nor experience in leading job interviews/employee assessment have any influence on how people respond. There was also a diversity among participants regarding years worked: the majority had worked for more than 3 years (211 people in total, which amounts to 68% of all), 59 participants (19%) had worked for one or two years, and 41 (31%) had worked for less than one year. All interviewees were Polish residents. Descriptive statistics of the obtained results are included in Appendix 2: Tables 6 and 7 (average values, standard deviation in answers related to different dimensions of erotic capital).

The obtained results served as construct validation. Statistical analyses were performed at this stage. Analyses were made separately for each of the three (basic) questionnaire situations, illustrating three different perspectives. Analyses aimed at assessing the following features of the research tool: reliability and validity (divergent and predictive), unidimensionality, as well as estimate of systematic error (influence of method’s variance). With this objective, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed; this analysis can also determine a general fit between the data and the assumed measurement model (Lance and Vandenberg 2001, pp. 221–254; Thompson 2004). In view of the fact that only one measuring tool was used, there exists a risk that variance ascribed to the method of measurement may cause a systematic error and deviation in the estimates of the true relationship between theoretical constructs. The method’s variance may lead to over- or under-estimation of observed relationships between constructs, which may give rise to type I and type II errors (Podsakoff et al. 2003, pp. 879–903). Therefore, we conducted a univariate analysis (Harman 1960) as a post hoc study, in order to test for the presence of common effect of the method.

Results of theoretical validation

For the three hypothetical situations under analysis (meeting a new person in one’s private life; conducting a job interview with a person that one sees for the first time in life; assessing a person that one has known already for some time), data collected during our study and indicators calculated on its basis show that the tool is reliable for each of the 5 components of erotic capital (Table 2). All indices of reliability fall into limit values (Fornell and Larcker 1981, p. 39): Cronbach's alpha > 0.7, AVE > 0.5 and CR > 0.7. The following statements (items) were removed from the tested model (due to low correlation—which had a value below 0.4 for CFA in all three situations): well-groomed teeth, demonstrating kindness, smiling, maintaining eye contact with the interlocutor, physical fitness, pleasant bodily smell and visible tattoos.

Table 2 Values of indices of reliability for examined components
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When it comes to discriminant validity, according to Fornell–Larcker’s criterion (1981, pp. 39–50), the amount of variance between each dimension and its measurement should be higher than the amount of variance between a given construct and other latent variables. In order to verify that, the square root of the AVE value for each measurement scale was compared with correlations between constructs. All square roots of AVE were greater than the constructs correlations, which confirm adequate discriminant validity in terms of the answers provided by the interviewees related to the relevance of erotic capital in the three examined situations (Table 3).

Table 3 Discriminant validity
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Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed that fit indices (Table 4) take on values that are greater than limit values assumed in the literature (Staniec and Shachmurove 2020, pp. 203–224). For the respective hypothetical situations, examples of that would be as follows: NFI = 0.87, IFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.067, CMIN = 2.37 and Standardised RMR = 0.0776—for the situation of meeting a new person in private life; NFI = 0.93, IFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.066, CMIN = 2.34 and standardised RMR = 0.0681—conducting a job interview with a newly met person; NFI = 0.87, IFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.91, low value of RMSEA = 0.072, CMIN = 2.62, and Standardised RMR = 0.0575 – assessment of an already known individual. This means that the pattern of correlations corresponds to expected correlations. Therefore, we have to do with a good fit between the data and the model.

Table 4 Fit between the data and the model
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Variance of the method may lead to over- or under-estimation of the observed relationships between different dimensions. In order to exclude common-method biases (CMB), we conducted an exploratory analysis of all 30 statements from the questionnaire. We used principal components analysis with varimax rotation in order to determine the number of factors that are necessary to account for the variables’ variance.

In terms of the answers related to the first situation (assessment of an individual in a private context), the factor analysis with varimax rotation of principal components revealed that there is a group of seven distinct factors with own value greater than 1.0 and not a single factor. Together, these seven factors represented 61.44% of the total variance; the first (greatest) factor did not account for a major part of the variance (but only 11%). Therefore, there is no general factor that could be isolated. After rejecting the statements with low correlation (that is: demonstrating kindness, smiling, maintaining eye contact with the interlocutor, physical fitness, pleasant bodily smell and visible tattoos), 5 factors were left, which as a whole accounted for 62.86% of the total variance. The greatest first factor amounted to 12.49%. Additionally, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the single factorial model would not fit well to the data, taking into account the following characteristics: chi2 (252, N = 310) = 1903.759, p < 0.0001, GFI = 0.537 < 0.9; CFI = 0.346 < 0.9; TLI = 0.304 < 0.9; SRMR = 0.1582 < 0.08; RMSEA = 0.146 < 0.08.

The results analysis related to the second hypothetical situation (assessment from the perspective of a recruiter conducting a job interview with a newly met person) revealed that there are six distinct factors with own value greater than 1.0 and not a single factor. Together, these 6 factors accounted for 61.96% of total variance; the first (greatest) factor did not account for a major part of variance (but only 16.18%). Therefore, there is no general factor that could be isolated. After rejecting statements with a low correlation (that is: demonstrating kindness, smiling, maintaining eye contact with the interlocutor, physical fitness, and visible tattoos), 5 factors were left, which as a whole accounted for 65.36% of total variance. The greatest first factor amounted to 14.57%. Additionally, the CFA showed that the single factorial model would not fit well to the data, taking into account the following characteristics: chi2 (275, N = 310) = 2157.834, p < 0.0001, GFI = 0.517 < 0.9; CFI = 0.436 < 0.9; TLI = 0.385 < 0.9; SRMR = 0.1480 < 0.08; RMSEA = 0.149 < 0.08.

In the third situation under investigation (assessment of a collaborator/colleague), the results analysis revealed a group of 5 distinct factors with own value greater than 1.0 and not a single factor. Together, these 5 factors accounted for 65.77% of total variance; the first (greatest) factor did not account for a major part of variance (19.89%). Therefore, there is no general factor that could be isolated. After rejecting statements with low correlation (that is: well-groomed teeth, demonstrating kindness, smiling, maintaining eye contact with the interlocutor, physical fitness, pleasant bodily smell and visible tattoos), 5 factors were left, which as a whole accounted for 71.45% of total variance. The greatest first factor amounted to 19.49%. Additionally, the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the single factorial model would not fit well to the data, taking into account the following characteristics: chi2 (230, N = 310) = 2917.438, p < 0.0001, GFI = 0.417 < 0.9; CFI = . 400 < 0.9; TLI = 0.340 < 0.9; SRMR = 0.2113 < 0.08 RMSEA = 0.194 < 0.08.

Although the results of this analysis do not entirely exclude a possibility of common-method variance, they still suggest that there is little probability for common-method variance to disrupt the interpretation of results.

Conclusions

The review of the literature showed that the construct of erotic capital (in Hakim’s understanding) is not investigated by experts in management. Erotic capital (or its different dimensions) may be of interest to researchers from many branches of social science, it seems however that researchers studying organisations assume that managerial decisions are rational and as such, dismiss erotic capital’s role in decision-making as irrelevant (for example in appraising candidates or employees). The literature review also proved that Hakim’s concept was criticised—for being too general, as well as for the lack of grounding in original empirical studies’ results. In order to give more precision to the construct of erotic capital, we undertook such empirical studies. Based on the literature review, we created a research tool that was then submitted for content and face validation. As a result, we obtained a survey questionnaire that was used in pilot studies. Collected data were served for a subsequent theoretical validation of the construct.

Due to the theoretical validation, it could be confirmed that the construct of erotic capital fulfils the requirements of reliability and validity (both divergent and predictive), as well as unidimensionality. However, it requires one further modification—the limitation of the number of variables (items). After curtailing the list of variables (Table 5) to 23 statements, the model of erotic capital exceeds mandatory validation requirements. Applied variables accurately describe the construct of erotic capital. Thus, they can be used in studies related to erotic capital’s role in decision-making in the field of human resources management.

Table 5 Variables that can be used in future empirical studies
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After reducing the number of variables to 23, suggested hypothetical questions (question 2 and 3) can be used to estimate the impact of the candidate`s/employee`s erotic capital on decisions being made regarding recruitment and appraisal. The tool can be used to analyse employees of all ranks who have a role in HR decisions making: supervisors, specialists, recruiters, external experts. Depending on the organisation`s needs, different sections of the questionnaire can be used (for example only questions 2 or only questions 3). If the answers ‘very important’ and ‘rather important’ (or ‘no doubt it will have influence’ and ‘rather will have influence’) are in the majority, it might pinpoint that the respondent has the tendency to be influenced by the erotic capital. Questions 2 and 3 are about assessing a person in a professional situation—that is why the measurement results can be aggregated. We are certain that questionnaire can be used to diagnose potential risk regarding decision making based on none-meritorical criteria. It can also be used to prevent such behaviour.

The research was conducted in Poland that is one the countries in which the western beauty standards dominate. Beauty standards vary in different parts of the world. That is why we would not recommend the tool to be used in the countries that believe in different beauty standards than the western one. We believe though, that it will be useful in western countries.

The conducted research has certain limitations. Non-random sampling of study participants is one of them. It does not interfere with the validation results, but study results cannot be generalised in this situation. Secondly, the fact of using hypothetical questions does not allow for inference related to actual facts. Thirdly, the five-level (uneven) Likert scale may have inclined the respondents to select answers located in the middle of the scale. Fourthly, during face validation, we did not resort to experts-practitioners, only to experts-academics. Nevertheless, it is worth stressing, after Cronbach (1990, p. 160), that a perfect research scheme that could be used for the process of theoretical validation does not exist. Another difficulty, emphasised in management science, relates to the fact that construct validation is often made based on data that reflects people’s subjective beliefs that are stable only over a limited period of time and in specific contexts (Peter and Churchill 1986, p. 10). As a result, it is indispensable to constantly bring scales to perfection, which is achieved by way of (Boudreau et al. 2001, pp. 1–16): pilot studies and preliminary testing in order to evaluate as wide a range of scales’ validation as possible; including sections related to validation in publications; using previously validated tools whenever possible; conducting validation when introducing new constructs.

Taking into account the presented limitations of the conducted study as well as the necessity to perfect the model, we are planning to continue our analyses of erotic capital’s role in decision-making in the field of human resources management. We want to conduct further research with the use of the modified construct (described with a restricted number of variables), this time with the participation of HRM practitioners, who are involved in the selection of candidates, employees’ appraisals and promotions. In accordance with the guidelines in place (Boudreau et al. 2001, pp. 1–16), when analysing future results, we will proceed with another validation of the erotic capital construct.

We are aware that conducting research on erotic capital’s role in decision-making at the managerial level is not an easy task (certainly not in Poland, which is a rather conservative country). During our pilot study, we were confronted with two extreme reactions from the participants. On the one hand, it was communicated to us (mainly by management practitioners) that the issue under our investigation was very important, that it was ‘food for thought’ that inspired to change behaviours. On the other hand, we were asked (mainly by management academics) to refrain from further analyses going in this direction; it was argued that the introduction of erotic capital into the studies related to HRM might lead to the violation of standards in management, the rise in discrimination phenomena and the affirmation of non-merit-based criteria in decision-making. Obviously, we understand the fact that the topic of erotic capital is a ‘delicate’ one and that studies on erotic capital’s role in human resources management may be perceived as politically incorrect. Nevertheless, we think that recognition of erotic capital’s role in HRM decisions may be key to preventing violations of standards in employment and to preventing discrimination. To summarise our assumption—is that in order to effectively prevent dysfunctional behaviours of the decision-makers (and behaviours that consist of taking HR decisions based on the erotic capital of candidates and employees definitely belong to this category), such behaviours first need to be recognised.