Abstract
Soft affirmative action (SAA) policies modify the composition of candidate pools without directly altering hiring criteria. While designed to enhance representation, such policies raise concerns about potential backlash - particularly whether they undermine perceptions and preferences toward members of the target group. We conducted an online experiment to examine how SAA influences employers’ beliefs and hiring decisions in a two-stage setting. Our design allows us to disentangle effects driven by changes in perceived performance from those driven by preferences. We find that SAA produces an overall positive impact: it increases representation and lowers entry thresholds for targeted candidates, while simultaneously improving employers’ perceptions of their performance and preferences toward them.