The Role of Self‐focused Attention and Negative Self‐thought in Interview Anxiety: A test of two interventions

Job interview anxiety is an unpleasant experience for many candidates that can cause them significant distress in the days leading up to the interview. As a result, many candidates are motivated to overcome their feelings of anxiety, however, few empirical studies have examined strategies aimed at lowering nervous jitters. This study looked at the relation between interview anxiety and ‘self‐focused attention’ (the tendency to focus on oneself during the interview), and also negative self‐thoughts during the interview. We tested two training interventions that are grounded in the social anxiety literature, positive imagery (fostering positive self‐images), and field perspective taking (focusing attention externally), which were designed to reduce self‐focused attention and negative thought. Both interventions decreased interview anxiety and increased interview self‐efficacy, but did not affect interview performance scores.     

Assessing Future Expectations of Low-Income Minority Young Men: Survival-Threats and Positive Expectations

Future expectations, a subset of overall orientation, represent youths’ most realistic appraisals of future outcomes, and has been demonstrated to be associated with a range of health risk behaviors and wellbeing. The current study extends previous measurement efforts to operationalize and measure future expectations by estimating a multidimensional model of future expectations encompassing both positive and survival-based expectations, and using longitudinal data to test the consistency of these constructs over time. The current work uses data from six waves of the Chicago Youth Development Study (n = 338), a sample of African American and Latino young men from low income neighborhoods in an urban center, to test a hypothesized multidimensional structure of future expectations across adolescence. Test retest confirmatory factor analyses from six waves of data covering the mean age range of 12–19 years reveal good model fit for the hypothesized multidimensional model of future expectations at each wave. Strong measurement invariance based on race/ethnicity is established for the multidimensional model. Implications for a latent construct approach to future expectations with low-income racial/ethnic minority young men are discussed.     

Religiosity and Intimacy with an Extradyadic Partner in Emerging Adulthood: A Developmental Perspective

The present study examined the relationship between intrinsic religious motivation and both physical and emotional intimacy with an extraydadic partner (i.e., infidelity) in a sample of emerging adults (ages 18–25, N = 188) who were involved in dating romantic relationships. The study uniquely conceptualized religiosity in terms of personal and internal connection with religion; additionally, the study included both physical and emotional aspects of extradyadic intimacy behaviors. Contrary to previous research with married adult couples, analyses revealed that intrinsic religious motivation significantly and positively predicted physical and emotional intimacy with an extradyadic partner. Developmental implications are discussed.     

Eliciting positive,negative and mixed emotional states: A film library for affective scientists

We describe the creation of a film library designed for researchers interested in positive (amusing), negative (repulsive), mixed (amusing and repulsive) and neutral emotional states. Three hundred 20- to 33-second film clips videotaped by amateurs were selected from video-hosting websites and screened in laboratory studies by 75 female participants on self-reported amusement and repulsion (Experiments 1 and 2). On the basis of pre-defined cut-off values, 51 positive, 39 negative, 59 mixed and 50 neutral film clips were selected. These film clips were then presented to 411 male and female participants in a large online study to identify film clips that reliably induced the target emotions (Experiment 3). Depending on the goal of the study, researchers may choose positive, negative, mixed or neutral emotional film clips on the basis of Experiments 1 and 2 or Experiment 3 ratings.     

Perceptual dimensions differentiate emotions

Individuals often describe objects in their world in terms of perceptual dimensions that span a variety of modalities; the visual (e.g., brightness: dark–bright), the auditory (e.g., loudness: quiet–loud), the gustatory (e.g., taste: sour–sweet), the tactile (e.g., hardness: soft vs. hard) and the kinaesthetic (e.g., speed: slow–fast). We ask whether individuals use perceptual dimensions to differentiate emotions from one another. Participants in two studies (one where respondents reported on abstract emotion concepts and a second where they reported on specific emotion episodes) rated the extent to which features anchoring 29 perceptual dimensions (e.g., temperature, texture and taste) are associated with 8 emotions (anger, fear, sadness, guilt, contentment, gratitude, pride and excitement). Results revealed that in both studies perceptual dimensions differentiate positive from negative emotions and high arousal from low arousal emotions. They also differentiate among emotions that are similar in arousal and valence (e.g., high arousal negative emotions such as anger and fear). Specific features that anchor particular perceptual dimensions (e.g., hot vs. cold) are also differentially associated with emotions.     

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.