Managing and creating an image in the interview: the role of interviewee initial impressions

In employment interviews, individuals use impression management tactics to present themselves as suitable candidates to interviewers. However, not all impression management tactics, or the interviewees who employ them, are effective at positively influencing interview scores. Results of this study indicate that the relationship between impression management tactic usage and interview success is contingent on the type of tactic employed. Specifically, self-promotion was found to have a positive relationship (r = .20) and slight (r = -.11) and extensive (r = -.19) image creation were found to have negative relationships with end-of-interview scores. Further, the relationships between these 3 impression management tactics were moderated by interviewees' initial impressions of the interview (ΔR2 ranged from .04 to .10). Interviewees who perceived they were seen as less suitable during rapport building were more effective when using any of the 3 impression management tactics.     

What Will the Boss Think? The Impression Management Implications of Supportive Relationships With Star and Project Peers

Although impression management scholars have identified a number of tactics for influencing supervisor evaluations, most of those tactics represent supervisor‐targeted behaviors. This study examines the degree to which employees form supportive relationships with peers for impression management purposes. In so doing, we explore this intriguing question: Will employees gain more from forming supportive relationships with “stars” (i.e., top performers who are “on the fast track” in the organization) or “projects” (i.e., “works in progress” who need help and refinement to perform well)? We examined this question in 2 field studies. Study 1 included 4 sources and 2 time periods; Study 2 included 2 sources and 3 time periods. The results showed that supportive relationships with both stars and projects seemed to represent impression management opportunities, insofar as they predicted supervisor positive affect and perceptions of employee promotability. Impression management motives only predicted supportive relationships with stars, however, not projects. Relationships with projects were driven by prosocial motives not concerns about managing images. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of our results for the managing of impressions and peer relationships.     

The use of impression management tactics in structured interviews: a function of question type?

This study investigated impression management tactic use during structured interviews containing both experience-based and situational questions. Specifically, the authors examined whether applicants' use of impression management tactics depended on question type. Results from 119 structured interviews indicated that almost all of the applicants used some form of impression management. Significantly more assertive than defensive impression management tactics were used, and among assertive tactics, applicants tended to use self-promotion rather than ingratiation. However, different question types prompted the use of different impression management tactics. Ingratiation tactics were used significantly more when applicants answered situational questions, whereas self-promotion tactics were used significantly more when applicants answered experience-based questions. Furthermore, the use of self-promotion and ingratiation tactics was positively related to interviewer evaluations.     

Perceived competence and impression management: Testing the mediating and moderating mechanisms

Using a diverse and unique sample of triads (N = 191 self, peer, and supervisor reports) from a field survey of two service sector organisations, this study examined the effects of perceived competence (self‐reported) and supervisor‐rated performance ratings on peer‐rated impression management. The study also tested the mediating role of performance in competence–impression management relationships and the moderating role of job satisfaction (self‐reported) in performance–impression management relationships using bootstrapping techniques. The study further examined the conditional indirect effects (i.e., moderated mediation) of perceived competence on impression management. The sample consisted of white collar employees from a government organisation and a leading cellular company in a developing country (i.e., Pakistan). Employees with low perceived competence were more likely to use impression management tactics than were those with high perceived competence. Similarly, poor performance ratings produced high impression management. Moreover, performance mediated the relationship between competence and impression management. The findings also suggest that perceived competence has a negative indirect effect on impression management for those with high levels of job satisfaction. Finally, impression management was highest when performance and satisfaction were low.     

Need for power, collective identity, and political skill: an investigation in Taiwan

Research on power motivation and political skill suggests that high need for power individuals who are oriented toward others will be perceived by supervisors as being politically skilled. McClelland (1973) theorized that high need for power individuals who reflect an orientation towards others will be perceived more favorably than those who are geared toward their own self-interest. In an employee-supervisor matched sample of 149 employees in a Taiwanese financial services organization, need for power was found to interact with an orientation toward others (collective identity) to affect supervisor ratings of political skill such that high need for power individuals exhibited greater political skill when they had a strong collective identity. This finding provides empirical evidence for the importance of the socialized view of power (McClelland, 1973) and shows when need for power relates to political skill using supervisor ratings rather than a self-report measure.     

Who is Being Judged Promotable: Good actors,high performers,highly committed or birds of a feather?

The present study investigated the impact of task performance, affective commitment, impression management tactics, and similarity to supervisor on promotability judgments in a collectivist context (i.e., Turkey). Longitudinal and multisource field‐data obtained from 205 subordinates and their 35 supervisors indicated that task performance, affective commitment, and similarity to supervisor influenced supervisors’ ratings of promotability. Yet no significant relationships were found between IM tactics and the promotability judgments. Furthermore, the results revealed a stronger influence of similarity to supervisor on promotion decisions in a collectivist culture.     

Differential Effectiveness of Applicant Impression Management Tactics on Employment Interview Decisions1

It has been a commonly held belief for some time that applicants attempt to manage impressions of interviewers in the employment interview process, but only recently have researchers begun to examine systematically the tactics applicants use, and how effective they are. The present study contrasted two sets of impression management tactics used by applicants and observed their effects on interviewer decisions in a controlled laboratory experiment. An applicant who employed self-focused-type impression management tactics was rated higher, received more recommendations for a job offer, and received fewer rejections from business students, who had just completed an interviewer training program, than when he used other-focused-type tactics. The implications of these results in terms of both theory and practice are discussed.     

Indirect Ingratiation: Pleasing People by Associating Them with Successful Others and by Praising Their Associates

Most of the literature on impression management considers direct tactics such as self‐promoting by mentioning personal achievements and ingratiating by complimenting others. These direct tactics can backfire if the target recognizes the hidden motive behind them. Therefore, people often use indirect impression management tactics. Previous research has shown that people promote themselves indirectly by associating themselves with successful others or by magnifying the characteristics of others to whom they are connected. The current research suggests that when the motive is ingratiation, the impression manager highlights the success of a person who is close to the target of ingratiation. The four experiments of the current research documented this tactic and examined its consequences for the impression manager and for the target.     

Generalized and specific attachment representations: unique and interactive roles in predicting conflict behaviors in close relationships

The authors expected that associations between the representations individuals possess regarding romantic partners and their conflict behavior would be moderated by generalized attachment representations (GAR). To test this premise, college students (N =130) were administered two attachment measures and were observed during conflict negotiation with their partners. The Relationship Styles Questionnaire assessed specific representations regarding partners and GAR were measured by the Adult Attachment Interview. The relationship between romantic partner representations and conflict tactics were dependent on GAR. Individuals who possessed secure GAR generally displayed good conflict management skills, regardless of their attachment representations regarding their romantic partners. Individuals who held more anxious or avoidant perceptions of romantic partners displayed more problematic conflict tactics if they possessed insecure GAR; however, these associations were dependent on the type of conflict behavior and the type of insecure GAR. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Doing More Harm Than Good: When Is Impression Management Likely to Evoke a Negative Response?

Impression management tactics do not always successfully influence observers, and may in fact create undesirable impressions. Hypotheses are derived concerning the conditions under which observers may respond more or less positively to impression management tactics. Qualitative data from an experiment manipulating two impression management tactics—self-handicapping and causal accounts—in conjunction with successful or failed performance outcomes were content-analyzed for subjects' general impressions of an actor. In turn, these ratings were subjected to an ANOVA. Results suggest that impression management tactics are differentially effective and under certain conditions can actually create negative images. The consistency of impression management tactics, performance outcomes, and observers' expectations form the basis for observers' general impressions of impression managers.     

Shall we continue or stop disapproving of self-presentation? Evidence on impression management and faking in a selection context and their relation to job performance

The self-presentation tactics of candidates during job interviews and on personality inventories have been a focal topic in selection research. The current study investigated self-presentation across these two selection devices. Specifically, we examined whether candidates who use impression management (IM) tactics during an interview show more faking on a personality inventory and whether the relation to job performance is similar for both forms of self-presentation. Data were collected in a simulated selection process with an interview under applicant conditions and a personality inventory that was administered under applicant conditions and thereafter for research purposes. Because all participants were employed, we were also able to collect job performance ratings from their supervisors. Candidates who used IM in the interview also showed more faking in a personality inventory. Importantly, faking was positively related to supervisors’ job performance ratings, but IM was unrelated. Hence, this study gives rise to arguments for a more balanced view of self-presentation.     

The moderating role of subordinate political skill on supervisors' impressions of subordinate ingratiation and ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation

Nearly 2 decades ago, social influence theorists called for a new stream of research that would investigate why and how influence tactics are effective. The present study proposed that political skill affects the style of execution of influence attempts. It utilized balance theory to explain the moderating effect of employee political skill on the relationships between self- and supervisor-reported ingratiation. Additionally, supervisor reports of subordinate ingratiation were hypothesized to be negatively related to supervisor ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation. Results from a combined sample of 2 retail service organizations provided evidence that subordinates with high political skill were less likely than those low in political skill to have their demonstrated ingratiation behavior perceived by targets as a manipulative influence attempt. Also, when subordinates were perceived by their supervisors to engage in more ingratiation behavior, the subordinates were rated lower on interpersonal facilitation. Implications of these findings, limitations, and future research directions are provided.     

When supervisors feel supported: relationships with subordinates' perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, and performance

The authors surveyed full-time retail employees and their supervisors to investigate relationships of supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) with subordinates' perceptions of support from their supervisors (perceived supervisor support [PSS]), POS, and in-role and extra-role performance. The authors found that supervisors' POS was positively related to their subordinates' perceptions of supervisor support. Subordinates' PSS, in turn, was positively associated with their POS, in-role performance, and extra-role performance. Beyond these bivariate relationships, subordinates' perceptions of support from the supervisor mediated positive relationships of the supervisors' POS with the subordinates' POS and performance. These findings suggest that supervisors who feel supported by the organization reciprocate with more supportive treatment for subordinates.     

Can Perceptions of Supervisor-Related Ethical Climate Influence How High-Impression Managers Admit Past Unethical Behavior?

In this study, we investigated how the perceptions of ethical climate as it relates to supervisor behavior and impression management are related to admission of past unethical behavior in a sample of Canadian Army personnel. We expected that among respondents who perceive less ethical supervisor-related climate, the relationship between Impression Management (IM) and the admission of past unethical behavior should be significant and positive. In contrast, among respondents who perceive a more ethical supervisor-related climate, the relationship between IM and self-report past unethical behavior should be weak or nonsignificant, and the frequency of admission of past unethical behavior should be low. Although moderation occurred, it was not as hypothesized. IM predicted admission of having obeyed, or witnessed others obey an unlawful command when perceptions of supervisor-related ethical climate were low, and not when perceptions of supervisor-related ethical climate were high. However, higher (vs. lower) impression managers admitted less past unethical behavior, regardless of their perceptions of supervisor-related ethical climate. These results suggest that high impression managers do not admit to having obeyed or witnessed others obey an unlawful command in the past, regardless of their perceptions of the ethical climate as it relates to supervisor behavior.     

Ingratiation tactics channeled by target values and threat capability1

Several hypotheses concerning the use of ingratiation tactics were tested in a paradigm where subjects believed that monetary rewards were contingent on a favorable evaluation from a supervisor. Manipulated variables in the 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design were (a) the nature of the supervisor's values (i.e., efficiency vs. sociability), (b) the level of threats issued by the supervisor (no threat vs. high threat), and (c) the extent to which the subjects were dependent on the supervisor's evaluation (low dependency vs. high dependency). The dependent variables were the extent to which the subjects used the ingratiation tactics of other-enhancement (flattery) and selective self-presentation. Findings indicate that the manipulation of the supervisor's values affected the form of other-enhancement used by subjects; more flattery in terms of efficiency occurred in the efficiency values condition, while more flattery in terms of sociability occurred in the sociability values condition. The supervisor's values also affected self-presentation; subjects claimed to hold efficiency ideals when the supervisor held efficiency values, but (in line with earlier findings) they did not claim to hold sociability ideals when the supervisor held sociability values. The manipulation of threats issued by the supervisor had a significant effect on the subjects' use of other-enhancement with respect to the target's sociability, but it had no effect on other ingratiation measures. Finally, the manipulation of dependency had no effect on other-enhancement, but it did produce a surprising “modesty effect” on self-presentation. Subjects presented themselves as both less efficient and less sociable under high dependency than under low. These findings are discussed in the light of previous research on ingratiation tactics.     

THE SOCIAL STIGMA OF MENSTRUATION

In a study examining the effects of a social stigma on impression management concerns, 28 menstruating and 30 nonmenstruating women were interviewed by a male confederate who either was or was not aware of their menstrual condition. Relative to menstruating women who thought the interviewer was unaware of their menstrual condition, menstruating women who believed that the interviewer knew they were menstruating perceived that the interviewer liked them less, yet were less motivated to make an impression on him. Nonmenstruating women reported more self-presentational motivation and perceived that the interviewer viewed them more positively than he did the menstruating women. These results suggest that the interviewer's knowledge of their menstrual condition inhibited menstruating women's self-presentational motivation. Implications of this social stigma for interpersonal relationships are discussed.     

应聘者印象管理研究述评

应聘者的印象管理行为在求职面试情境中是一种普遍现象,其目的旨在赢得面试考官的良好评价。应聘者印象管理行为包括有3类策略：获得性策略、保护性策略及非言语策略;同时,对应聘者印象管理行为的测量也要从印象管理策略的测量和印象管理风格的测量两个方面入手。另外,在整合已有文献的基础上,还从面试情境与应聘者印象管理行为、应聘者个性特质与印象管理策略使用、应聘者印象管理行为与面试结果及招聘者对应聘者印象管理识别等4个方面综述了应聘者印象管理研究的发展现状,并指出了现有研究存在的问题及未来研究的方向     

情境公开性与印象管理动机对建议采纳的影响

实验1和实验2分别探讨在公开和匿名条件下期望印象和印象标签对建议采纳的影响。结果表明：（1）期望印象会影响建议采纳，在公开情境中，当个体期望形成温暖的印象时，会更多采纳建议；当个体期望形成能力印象时，建议采纳程度更低。（2） 印象标签会影响建议采纳，在公开情境中，当个体期望维持原有的温暖印象时，会更多采纳建议；个体期望维持原有的能力印象时，建议采纳程度更低。本研究证明建议采纳过程中存在印象管理机制。     

Using the BIDR to Distinguish the Effects of Impression Management and Self‐Deception on the Criterion Validity of Personality Measures: A Meta‐Analysis

Although the use of personality tests for personnel selection has gained increasing acceptance, researchers have raised concerns that job applicants may distort their responses to inflate their scores. In the present meta‐analysis, we examined the effects of the two dimensions of social desirability, impression management and self‐deception, on the criterion validity of personality constructs using the balanced inventory of desirable responding (BIDR). The results indicate that impression management and self‐deception did not create spurious effects on the relationship between personality measures and performance, nor did they function as performance predictors. Moreover, removing the influence of impression management or self‐deception from personality measures did not substantially attenuate the criterion validity of personality variables. Implications of the results and directions for future research are also discussed.