The Validity of the Employment Interview: A Meta-Analysis

The interview is the most widely used personnel selection method, but has revealed low reliability and validity compared with other selection methods (Mayfield 1964; Ulrich and Trumbo 1965; Schmitt 1976; Arvey 1979). Thirty-one studies on the validity of the interview were meta-analyzed. The result was an average validity coefficient of .27. The estimated true validity of the interview was calculated to be .38. These values indicated that the interview has moderate validity as a personnel selection device. Six characteristics of the interview were also examined in relation to the validity of the interview: structure of the interview; number of interviewers; length of the interview; gender of the applicant pool; blue-collar/white-collar jobs; and use of college students versus job applicants. The six study characteristics accounted for 30.9% of the variance in the validity of the interview. Structure of the interview appeared to be the only characteristic that moderated the validity of the interview. The relationship of this study to other meta-analyses of the employment interview is discussed.     

The Recruiting Interview as Perceived by College Student Applicants for Sales Positions

The recruiting interview experience as perceived by college students applying for sales positions is the subject of this research study. The results, based on actual recruiting interviews through placement centers at two university campuses, describe the relative importance of various factors in the job offer and recruiting process, including characteristics of the recruiter. Analysis shows how these factors relate to the applicant's perceived success of the interview, the chance of getting a job offer, and the chance of accepting a job offer.     

An examination of the Self-Administered Interview as a verbal veracity assessment tool

The self-administered interview (SAI) is a written eyewitness recall tool that elicits more information from cooperative witnesses than written free recall (WFR) formats. To date, SAI research has examined the accounts of cooperative people providing honest reports. In the current experiment, truthful and fabricating participants (N = 128) either completed a WFR or a SAI after witnessing a crime (initial account). After a 1-week delay, participants were interviewed verbally (subsequent interview). Truth tellers reported significantly more detail than liars in both the initial account and subsequent interview, and participants who completed the SAI reported more detail than those completing the WFR. Truth tellers repeated and omitted more information in the subsequent interview than liars; however, there was no significant difference in the number of reminiscent details reported. Although the SAI is effective in eliciting information as an initial eyewitness reporting tool, no benefits for the detection of deception were demonstrated.     

Resume Characteristics as Predictors of an Invitation to Interview

The resume is the first contact between an organization and a job seeker, but little empirical evidence exits to guide resume development. This study examined the impact of resume characteristics on decisions to interview graduates. It was found that resume characteristics provided an advantage in obtaining an invitation to interview.     

A Narrative Review of Post-1989 Employment Interview Research

This narrative review covers both selection- and recruitment/com-munication-oriented employment interview research published since 1989. Brief comparisons of older reviews' findings to recent findings are presented. Key topics reviewed include validity and reliability evidence, decision making in the interview, applicant characteristics, applicant reactions, and interview communication processes. Key findings of the present review include: interview validity, under certain conditions, may rival that of mental ability tests; more structure in selection interviews is better; previewing applicant information (e.g., resumes) by the interviewer can harm selection interview effectiveness; and certain recruiter behaviors can influence applicants' willingness to work for the firm.     

The Student Guided Functional Assessment Interview: An Analysis of Student and Teacher Agreement

Functional assessment strategies are used to guide the treatment of problem behavior with individuals who have severe disabilities. Also, researchers have extended functional assessment applications to individuals with emotional and behavioral disabilities. One such extension is the use of students as informants in the functional assessment process. The present study assessed an interview tool designed to elicit information directly from students regarding their problem behaviors. We examined agreement between students and their teachers. Results showed high agreement on the causes and functions of problem behavior with mixed agreement on support plan recommendations.     

Police officers' use of evidence to elicit admissions in a fictitious criminal case

We examined how police officers planned to interview suspects in a situation where they lacked information about a critical phase of a crime (i.e., the time during which the crime took place) but possessed information about less critical phases of the crime (i.e., the time before and/or after the crime took place). The main focus was the officers' planned use of the available information (evidence) to elicit admissions about the critical phase. A survey was distributed to police officers (n  = 69) containing a fictitious murder case for which they were to prepare an interview with a suspect. The investigators planned to disclose the evidence more often in a strategic manner (obtaining the suspect's statement and exhausting alternative scenarios before revealing the evidence) than in a non‐strategic manner (revealing the evidence before requiring an explanation). The investigators' most frequently reported reason for their planned evidence use was to collect additional information about the particular phase to which the disclosed evidence pertained. It was rare that the investigators planned to disclose the evidence about a less critical phase of the crime in order to elicit admissions about the more critical phase (e.g., by disclosing the evidence to try to shift the suspect's counter‐interrogation strategy from less to more forthcoming). The investigators may benefit from recent research showing that strategic evidence disclosure can be used as a means to elicit admissions about a phase of a crime for which information is lacking.     

Black-White Differences in Nonverbal Behavior in an Interview Setting

The majority of systematic research on nonverbal behavior has used white college students as subjects. The present investigation examined both white and black subjects'nonverbal behavior and also independently varied the race of the person with whom the subject interacted. The experimental setting was an actual employment interview. Twenty black and 20 white female undergraduates were individually interviewed by either a black or white male interviewer. White subjects tended to maintain more visual interaction with interviewers of both races than did black subjects. Moreover, black interviewers were visually interacted with less, and given shorter glances. Racial, in contrast to nonracial, questions elicited longer glances; and subjects hesitated longer before answering them.     

Shake and Fake: the Role of Interview Anxiety in Deceptive Impression Management

We investigated whether anxiety about self-presentation concerns during interviews (i.e., interview anxiety) is associated with applicants’ use of deceptive impression management (IM) tactics. We examined the relationship between interview anxiety and deceptive IM, and we examined whether the personality traits of honesty-humility and extraversion would be indirectly related to deceptive IM through interview anxiety. Participants (N?=?202) were recruited after an interview for a research assistant position. Interview anxiety scores were positively related to deceptive IM. Furthermore, there was evidence of a negative indirect effect of honesty-humility on deceptive IM, via overall interview anxiety. Also, extraversion was indirectly associated with deceptive IM through interview anxiety. Results suggest that deceptive IM can be used as a protective mechanism to maintain self-esteem or to avoid the loss of rewards. This paper is the first to examine the role of interview anxiety in interview faking.

     

The development of a child assessment interview for research and clinical use

The Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) was developed to address the need for a standardized child interview that could be used for research and clinical purposes. The CAS has several distinguishing characteristics: (1) Questions and responses are standardized, (2) the format was designed to enhance rapport with the child, and (3) information necessary for DSM III childhood diagnoses is explicitly solicited. The CAS was administered to 32 child outpatients, 18 inpatients, and 37 normal controls. Derived scores were obtained for total psychopathology, 11 content areas, and 9 symptom complexes. Interrater reliability for the total CAS score was quite high. The CAS was able to discriminate among the three groups in total score indicating degree of psychopathology, on 9 of the 11 content areas, and on 8 of the 9 symptom complexes. Significant correlations were found between the CAS and maternal report of child behavior and between the CAS and child selfreport of internal affects. It was concluded that the CAS has adequate reliability and validity, although further research is indicated.     

Reflections on Religion and Health Research: An Interview with Dr. Harold G. Koenig

In this interview renowned researcher Harold G. Koenig, MD, MHSc shares his perspective on religion and health research, drawing from his experiences as a researcher, educator and practitioner. Throughout the interview, he highlights significant advances and discusses the gaps and potential weaknesses in the current body of religion and health literature. He also outlines recommendations for the continued advancement of religion and health research. Guidelines are given to guide new investigators interested in becoming religion and health researchers.     

多面Rasch模型在结构化面试中的应用

使用项目反应理论中的多面Rasch模型,对66名考生在结构化面试中的成绩进行分析,剔除了由于评委等具体测量情境因素引入的误差对原始分数的影响,得到考生的能力估计值以及个体水平的评分者一致性信息。对基于考生能力估计值和考生面试分得到的决策结果进行比较,发现测量误差的确对决策造成影响,对个别考生的影响甚至相当巨大。进一步使用Facets偏差分析以及评委宽严程度的Facets分析追踪误差源。结果表明,将来自不同面试组的被试进行面试原始成绩的直接比较,评委的自身一致性和评委彼此之间在宽严程度上的差异均将导致误差。研究表明,采用Facets的考生能力估计值作为决策的依据将提高选拔的有效性。同时,Facets分析得到的考生个体层次的评分者一致性指标,以及评委与考生的偏差分析等研究结果还可以为面试误差来源的定位提供详细的诊断信息     

Dark Motives and Elective Use of Brainteaser Interview Questions

Brainteaser interview questions such as “Estimate how many windows are in New York” are just one example of aggressive interviewer behaviour that lacks evidence for validity and is unsettling to job applicants. This research attempts to shed light on the motives behind such behaviour by examining the relation between dark-side traits and the perceived appropriateness of brainteaser interview questions. A representative sample of working adults (n = 736) was presented with a list of interview questions that were either traditional (e.g., “Are you a good listener?”), behavioural (e.g., “Tell me about a time when you failed”), or brainteaser in nature. Results of a multiple regression, controlling for interviewing experience and sex, showed that narcissism and sadism explained the likelihood of using brainteasers in an interview. A subsequent bifactor analysis showed that these dark traits shared a callousness general factor. A second longitudinal study of employed adults with hiring experience demonstrated that perspective-taking partially mediated the relationship between this general factor and the perceived helpfulness and abusiveness of brainteaser interview questions. These results suggest that a callous indifference and a lack of perspective-taking may underlie abusive behaviour in the employment interview.     

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.

     

An ecological study of the reliability of clinical judgment in executive appraisal

This research was a study of the reliability of clinical judgment findings (multitrait) across three different information sources (psychometric tests, structured interview, and psychometric tests and interview). Subjects (N = 74) were middle and senior executives of Western Canadian technical companies; clinicians (N = 3) were trained and experienced industrial psychologists. The study investigated the similarity of clinical evaluation of personological characteristics (based on an 18-factor multitrait paradigm) across the three different information sources. Subjects were independently rated by a single clinician on 18 criterion factors in each of the three information source categories. Test information source categories required the administration of approximately 12 hrs of standardized psychological assessment questionnaires to each of the 74 subjects. Interview source category involved a 1.5-hr structured interview per subject. Combined condition pooled both test and interview conditions. Generalizability of the findings was maximized by the undertaking of the experiment in a natural situation thus increasing ecological validity. Statistical treatments used were designed to assess the similarity of a clinician's evaluation of a subject based on the different category of information available about that client. Convergence (intrarater reliability) indexes range from a high of .64 to a low of .05. Results indicate a varying degree of convergence of multitrait clinical ratings dependent on clinician and trait being rated. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practitioners involved in executive personnel selection.     

Assessment of Maternally Reported Life Events in Children and Adolescents: A Comparison of Interview and Checklist Methods

This study compared the number and impact of maternally reported life events experienced by children assessed using interview and checklist approaches. Psychometric properties of a new checklist measure were also examined. Participants were 80 children aged 7 to 16 years recruited from the general community. Mothers completed an interview, the Psychosocial Assessment of Child Experiences (PACE; Sandberg et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 34(6): 879–897, 1993)) and the Child and Adolescent Survey of Experiences (CASE), a checklist derived from PACE and featuring parent and child self-report versions. PACE and CASE assessed a similar number of negative life events, however CASE assessed more positive life events. The two measures showed fair to substantial agreement for the number and perceived impact of life events. Both PACE and CASE detected significant associations between negative, but not positive life events and child psychopathology. An evaluation of the psychometric properties of CASE revealed that mother-child agreement was good for the overall number of life events, with agreement ranging from poor to substantial for specific life events. CASE demonstrated good one-week retest reliability; however younger children were less reliable reporters of life events than adolescents. Findings are discussed in terms of the relative utility of the two assessment methods for research and clinical practice.     

An Empirical Review of the Employment Interview Construct Literature

The purpose of this paper is to summarize available empirical research on the association between employment interview ratings and various construct measures using a theoretical model developed as part of the study. The model posits 3 main sources of construct‐related variance in interview ratings: job‐related interview content (e.g., job knowledge), interviewee performance (e.g., impression management tactics), and personal/demographic characteristics (e.g., candidate attractiveness). Results suggest some potentially important findings, including that the mean correlation with interview ratings is twice as large for constructs related to interviewee performance as it is for constructs pertaining to job‐related interview content. Directions for future construct research are also identified. For instance, despite being central to the interpersonal make‐up of the candidates, research regarding the influence of interests, goals, and values on interview ratings is almost nonexistent.     

Estimating the reliability of interview data

A model for a score based on an interview is presented which identifies the effect due to the subject, to the manner in which the interviewer tends to conduct his interviews, to the criteria he tends to use in scoring subjects' responses, to the compromises he tends to adopt between the demands of interviewing and those of scoring, and to chance errors. A suggested experimental design calls for each ofK investigators to interview a different sample ofN subjects, but for all investigators to score each subject. The drawing of inferences when interest is only in theK participants in the reliability study is considered, and a numerical example is given.This work was supported in part by grant DE R01 00793 from the National Institute of Dental Research, and in part by grants MH 08534 and MH 09191 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and forms part of the author's Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia University. The guidance provided by Professor T. W. Anderson is gratefully acknowledged.