Investigating the unique predictability and boundary conditions of applicant physical attractiveness and non‐verbal behaviours on interviewer evaluations in job interviews

Through the lens of the dramaturgical perspective, the present study investigated (1) the unique predictability of applicant non‐verbal cues (physical attractiveness and non‐verbal behaviours) on interviewer evaluation, and (2) whether situational variables (i.e., customer‐contact requirement and sex‐type consistency) moderate the relationships between applicant non‐verbal cues and interviewer evaluations. Data were collected from 177 interview sessions held in 39 firms in Taiwan. Results showed that applicant physical attractiveness explained unique variance in interviewer evaluations beyond that explained by applicant verbal content. Moreover, the effect of physical attractiveness became weaker when jobs possessed lower customer‐contact requirements, or when the applicant's gender was inconsistent with the interviewer's sex‐type belief relative to the job. No main or moderating effects, however, were found for non‐verbal behaviours on interviewer evaluations.     

The Antecedent and Consequence of Person–Organization Fit: Ingratiation,similarity, hiring recommendations and job offer

This study investigates how the ingratiation and perceived similarity of a job applicant can affect the judgment of an interviewer in determining person–organization fit (P–O fit), hiring recommendations and the job offer during a job interview. Data were collected from 144 interviewers and 184 applicants from 28 companies in Taiwan. The results suggest that applicant ingratiation has a positive effect on an interviewer's perceived similarity with the applicant, and that this perceived similarity mediates the relationship between applicant ingratiation and the interviewer's judgment of the applicant's P–O fit. The results further suggest that the relationship between the interviewer's judgment of the applicant's P–O fit and the job offer is mediated by hiring recommendations. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Physiological,affective, and behavioral responses to interpersonal conflict among males from families with different levels of cohesion and adaptability

To examine the relation between characteristics of a person's family of origin and cardiovascular, behavioral, cognitive, and affective response to interpersonal conflict, responses of 15 young males from families rated as extreme (EXT) on scales of cohesion (enmeshed or disengaged) or adaptability (chaotic or rigid) were compared to those of 25 young males from families rated as balanced (BAL) on measures of cohesion and adaptability. Subjects participated in two interpersonal role-play conflict situations, one with a male confederate and the other with a female confederate. Measures of heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and indices of both positive and negative verbal and nonverbal behaviors were obtained during each scenario and self-reported measures of positive and negative cognitive self-statements and affective response were obtained following each conflict scene. Results showed that, in contrast to BAL males, EXT males exhibited more negative verbal and nonverbal behavior, less positive nonverbal behavior, higher ratings of state anxiousness during conflict, and higher HR responses during the interaction with the male confederate than the female confederate. These findings suggest that exposure to a family environment with extreme levels of cohesion and adaptability impacts how an individual responds to interpersonal conflict in young adulthood.     

Behavioral Expression of Job Interview Anxiety

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate (a) the behavioral cues that are displayed by, and trait judgments formed about, anxious interviewees, and (b) why anxious interviewees receive lower interview performance ratings. The Behavioral Expression of Interview Anxiety Model was created as a conceptual framework to explore these relations.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We videotaped and transcribed mock job interviews, obtained ratings of interview anxiety and interview performance, and trained raters to assess several verbal and nonverbal cues and trait judgments.

Findings

The results indicated that few behavioral cues, but several traits were related to interviewee and interviewer ratings of interview anxiety. Two factors emerged from our factor analysis on the trait judgments—Assertiveness and Interpersonal Warmth. Mediation analyses were performed and indicated that Assertiveness and Interpersonal Warmth mediated the relation between interview anxiety and interview performance. Speech rate (words spoken per minute) and Assertiveness were found to mediate the relation between interviewee and interviewer ratings of interview anxiety.

Implications

Overall, the results indicated that interviewees should focus less on their nervous tics and more on the broader impressions that they convey. Our findings indicate that anxious interviewees may want to focus on how assertive and interpersonally warm they appear to interviewers.

Originality/Value

To our knowledge, this is the first study to use a validated interview anxiety measure to examine behavioral cues and traits exhibited by anxious interviewees. We offer new insight into why anxious interviewees receive lower interview performance ratings.

     

The Employment Interview via the Telephone: Are We Sacrificing Accurate Personality Judgments for Cost Efficiency?

The goal of the study was to determine whether impoverished personality judgments of job candidates would be yielded by interviewers who conduct telephone interviews in comparison to face-to-face interviews due to the telephone interviews' inherent lack of crucial nonverbal communication. Participants in this study conducted mock job interviews using either the face-to-face format or the telephone format, while their behavior was coded by independent raters. For each participant, self-ratings of job-related personality traits were obtained from the applicant, while ratings of the applicant's personality were obtained from the interviewer and a peer of the applicant. It was found that the average self-interviewer and peer-interviewer agreement correlations, which were used as the criteria for accuracy, were significantly greater when the interviewer implemented the face-to-face interview method, thus supporting the hypothesis. An item analysis further supported the hypothesis in that face-to-face interviewers were found to rate the candidates significantly higher/more favorably on those traits that are typically conveyed via nonverbal communication.     

Social problem solving training: A follow-up study of cognitive and behavioral effects

The long term effects of Spivack and Shures' social problem-solving training were assessed and compared to an attention-placebo control. Thirty-seven preschool age children were involved in this year's long intervention project and six month follow-up. All subjects received 46 sessions of intervention by specially trained assistants. Support was found for the cognitive effectiveness of social problem-solving training with aberrant children at post test in that they gained significantly in their ability to generate alternative solutions to interpersonal problems. This differential effect was not sustained at follow-up. Blind teacher ratings of behavioral adjustment and independent observers' ratings of behavior (using a naturalistic observation scale developed for this study) revealed no significant behavioral training effects at post test or at follow-up. Findings are discussed with the suggestion that behavior change in young children may not be mediated through a strictly cognitive intervention, and may more logically require an integration of behavioral and cognitve techniques.     

结构化面试预测效度的贡献成分分析

以情境面试和行为面试为主要形式的结构化面试,被广泛证明能够预测员工绩效,但其构念效度一直没被清晰地证明.面试的结构性、应聘者印象管理行为、动机、认知能力和人格特征等成分对结构化面试的预测效度都有积极贡献,这种对结构化面试预测效度贡献成分的分析有助于认清结构化面试的构念效度.未来的研究需关注结构化面试构念是否以人际技能为主,以及人际技能、动机、认知能力各自所占比重.     

Verbal aggressiveness and state anxiety of volleyball players and coaches

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of verbal aggressiveness and state anxiety (somatic, cognitive, and self-confidence) in sports settings based on the ratings by volleyball coaches and their athletes. The sample consisted of volleyball athletes (n=208; 98 men and 110 women) and their coaches (n=20; 16 men and 4 women). Analysis showed that male volleyball players rated somatic anxiety higher and were more affected by the verbal aggressiveness of their coaches than female volleyball players. No mean differences were significant for male and female coaches on somatic or cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, or verbal aggressiveness. Also, correlation between subscale scores for male and female volleyball players and coaches was found. The correlations of verbal aggressiveness with self-confidence and anxiety were positive for these athletes, leading them to better behavior. This relationship needs further examination in sport settings.     

The Aye of the Beholder: Susceptibility to Sexism and Beautyism in the Evaluation of Managerial Applicants1

Sex-typed college students (16 males and 16 females) and androgynous college students (16 males and 16 females) evaluated the resumes of fictitious applicants for a managerial position described as requiring interpersonal competencies. The applicant's physical attractiveness, qualifications, and sex were systematically varied in the resumes. Five-way analyses of variance were performed on the hiring decisions about the applicants and the perceived attractiveness, masculinity, femininity, and social desirability of the applicants. Hiring preferences were shown for attractive over unattractive applicants, for wellqualified over less qualified applicants, and among these preferred groups, males were favored over females. The subject's sex-role orientation predictably moderated the effect of the applicant's attractiveness but not the effect of the applicant's sex. Sex-typed subjects committed “beautyism” more than androgynous subjects did. The applicants' sex, qualifications, and attractiveness affected how they were perceived in terms of sex-role attributes as well as sex-irrelevant, socially desirable traits. Theoretical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Rater Correction Processes in Applicant Selection Using Videoconference Technology: The Role of Attributions1

Increasing global competition for the best employees has resulted in a significant increase in the recruiting and selection of geographically dispersed applicants. Innovative telecommunication technologies (e.g., videoconferencing) have provided a means to interview distant applicants at relatively low cost, compared to face‐to‐face interviews. However, some have suggested that interviewer ratings could be affected by the use of communication media to conduct the interview. In the present laboratory study, we tested a model of rater decision processes to help explain a mechanism for inflated ratings of videoconference‐based applicants. Participants who believed that they were making judgments for a real selection process rated simulated videoconference or face‐to‐face interviews. Raters who perceived interview media to be lower in richness were more likely to make external attributions for the applicant's performance, and consequently rated him more favorably.     

IS COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY LOQUACITY? A REPLY TO POWERS,JORDAN, AND STREET

Powers, Jordan, and Street recently presented evidence suggesting that assessments of cognitive complexity obtained from a widely used procedure may be significantly influenced by general loquacity and verbal complexity. This report argues that Powers et al.'s results are an artifact of the procedures employed, and presents additional evidence bearing on the relationship between cognitive complexity and general verbal abilities. In one study, conceptually independent assessments of cognitive complexity, loquacity, and writing speed were obtained from a group of college students. Cognitive complexity was found generally unrelated to both writing speed and loquacity. In a second set of studies, independent assessments of interpersonal cognitive complexity and two indices of general verbal abilities were obtained from three diverse populations (college students, mothers of young children, and grade-school children). Only low and generally nonsignificant relationships were found between cognitive complexity scores and the measures of verbal facility. These results are discussed within the framework of a construct! vist theory of cognitive development.     

Validation of a component model of social skill with outpatient adults

Little social skills research has been generated from applied outpatient settings. The present study examined the relationship of behavioral social skill components to independent judges' social skill judgments. A secondary question was whether nonverbal components would demonstrate a curvilinear relationship to social skill ratings. Forty-two outpatient adults at a community mental health center were videotaped role-playing eight scenes (four commendatory and four refusal). Videotapes were viewed in random order by community members who rated the subject's social skill in the situation. Trained raters scored the videotapes on standard behavioral components. While both nonverbal and verbal components accounted for significant portions of unique variance, the percentage of eye contact was an overwhelmingly large contributor to skill judgments. No curvilinear trend was evidenced for the nonverbal components. The study extended prior findings with psychiatric inpatients into applied outpatient settings and indicated that a component social skills model is equally applicable with outpatient adults. The findings replicated with a second sample of outpatient adults.     

Everyday Cognitive Functioning in Cardiac Patients: Relationships Between Self-report,Report of a Significant Other and Cognitive Test Performance

ABSTRACT

Candidates for cardiac bypass surgery often experience cognitive decline. Such decline is likely to affect their everyday cognitive functioning. The aim of the present study was to compare cardiac patients' ratings of their everyday cognitive functioning against significant others' ratings and selected neuropsychological tests. Sixty-nine patients completed a battery of standardised cognitive tests. Patients and significant others also completed the Everyday Function Questionnaire independently of each other. Patient and significant other ratings of patients' everyday cognitive difficulties were found to be similar. Despite the similarities in ratings of difficulties, some everyday cognitive tasks were attributed to different processes. Patients' and significant others' ratings were most closely associated with the neuropsychological test of visual memory. Tests of the patients' verbal memory and fluency were only related to significant others' ratings. Test scores of attention and planning were largely unrelated to ratings by either patients or their significant others.     

Confidence and aspirations: Self-esteem and self-concepts as predictors of students' life goals

Research was conducted to assess sex differences in college students' self-esteem and self-concepts, and the extent to which students' self-perceptions predict their life goals Questionnaires that included the Rosenberg Scale, Texas Social Behavior Inventory, self-concepts, life goals, and demographic and family backgrounds were completed by 804 women from seven colleges and 127 men from two colleges Men and women did not differ significantly in their self-esteem and interpersonal self-confidence, but the men rated themselves higher on math/science ability, leadership/public speaking ability, and coping/self-sufficiency Women's global self-esteem scores and interpersonal self-confidence did not predict their life goals, but women's greater self-confidence in masculine spheres predicted higher educational goals and their ranking of future careers as a more important priority in their lives Men's interpersonal self-confidence predicted their ranking time for future spouses as a high priority and time for themselves as a lower priority Men's global self-esteem and leadership/public speaking ability self-concept predicted preferences for full-time career involvement when their future children are very young Different demographic variables also predicted men's and women's goals Implications of these sex differences and predictive relationships are discussed     

The Influence of Videoconference Technology and Interview Structure on the Recruiting Function of the Employment Interview: A Field Experiment

This field experiment examined whether interview medium and interview structure affects the attractiveness of organizations, interviewer friendliness and performance. Attractiveness ratings of 25 organizations were provided by 92 real job applicants, assigned to either a face–to–face (FTF) or a videoconference (VC) interview. An interview medium X structure interaction showed FTF applicants were attracted most to organizations who conducted their interviews with less structure, while VC applicants were more attracted to organizations using structured interviews. Interview structure had no effect on applicants’ perception of the interviewer’s performance; however, interviewers’ performance was rated higher for FTF than VC interviews. Applicants were more satisfied with their FTF performance in less structured interviews and more satisfied with their VC performance in highly structured interviews.     

Candidate Personality as an Influence on Selection Interview Assessments

Les interviewers décrivent couramment leur travail comme une tâche ďévaluation de la personnalité. Pourtant, on recense peu de recherches sur la façon dont la personnalité des candidats influence les jugements de ľinterviewer. Dans cette étude, des demandeurs de formation ont rempli la "self-monitoring scale" de Snyder, ľE.P.I. et une mesure de ľanxiété comportementale; ces données ont été corrélées avec les appréciations des interviewers. Conformé-ment aux hypothèses, on a trouvé que les extravertis étaient jugés plus positivement. Le névrotisme, bien que corrélé avec plusieurs appréciations ďinterviewers, ne semblait pas liéà la décision finale. Contrairement aux prédictions, les scores ďautonomie n'étaient pas corrélés avec les appréciations des interviewers.
Interviewers frequently see their task as being one of personality assessment, yet there is little research on how candidate personality influences interviewer assessments. In this study, applicants for places on a course completed Snyder's self-monitoring scale, the E.P.I, and a measure of state anxiety, and their scores were correlated with interviewers' ratings. As had been hypothesised, there was some indication that extraverts were judged to be more acceptable. Neuroti-cism, despite being correlated with several interviewer ratings, did not seem to be related to final acceptance decision. Contrary to prediction, self-monitoring scores did not correlate with the interviewers' assessments.     

“I Know What You Want to Know”: The Impact of Interviewees' Ability to Identify Criteria on Interview Performance and Construct-Related Validity

The current study tested whether candidates' ability to identify the targeted interview dimensions fosters their interview success as well as the interviews' convergent and discriminant validity. Ninety-two interviewees participated in a simulated structured interview developed to measure three different dimensions. In line with the hypotheses, interviewees who were more proficient at identifying the targeted dimensions received better evaluations. Furthermore, interviewees' ability to identify these evaluation criteria accounted for substantial variance in predicting their performance even after controlling for cognitive ability. Finally, the interviewer ratings showed poor discriminant and convergent validity. However, we found some support for the hypothesis that the quality of the interviewer ratings improves when one only considers ratings from questions for which interviewees had correctly identified the intended dimensions.     

Employment Interviews: How Critical

In order to determine the relationship between selected characteristics and behaviors of applicants for employment and the outcome of their interviews, interviewer ratings of 398 registrants of a university placement office were analyzed. Factor analysis suggested that applicants were rated on two dimensions: their behavior during the interview and their credentials. The importance of the candidate's general impression on the interviewer is noted, and the need for applicants to be aware that credentials and interview behavior alone do not ensure employment is stressed.