Economic Predictors of Differences in Interview Faking Between Countries: Economic Inequality Matters,Not the State of Economy |
| |
| Authors: | Cornelius J. König Markus Langer Clemens B. Fell Raghuvar Dutt Pathak Nida ul Habib Bajwa Eva Derous Sanja M. Geißler Shinichi Hirose Ute Hülsheger Nino Javakhishvili Nilve Junges Birgit Knudsen Michael S.W. Lee Marco G. Mariani Gopal C. Nag Claudia Petrescu Chet Robie Halahingano Rohorua Lavinia D. Sammel Désirée Schichtel Sergei Titov Ketevan Todadze Alexander H. von Lautz Martina Ziem |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Universität des Saarlandes, Germany;2. University of the South Pacific, Fiji;3. Ghent University, Belgium;4. International University of Japan, Japan;5. Maastricht University, The Netherlands;6. Ilia State University, Georgia;7. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil;8. Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Netherlands;9. University of Auckland, New Zealand;10. Università di Bologna, Italy;11. Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur, India;12. Research Institute for Quality of Life, Romania;13. Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada;14. University of Waikato, New Zealand;15. Higher School of Economics, Russia |
| |
| Abstract: | Many companies recruit employees from different parts of the globe, and faking behavior by potential employees is a ubiquitous phenomenon. It seems that applicants from some countries are more prone to faking compared to others, but the reasons for these differences are largely unexplored. This study relates country-level economic variables to faking behavior in hiring processes. In a cross-national study across 20 countries, participants (N = 3,839) reported their faking behavior in their last job interview. This study used the random response technique (RRT) to ensure participants’ anonymity and to foster honest answers regarding faking behavior. Results indicate that general economic indicators (gross domestic product per capita [GDP] and unemployment rate) show negligible correlations with faking across the countries, whereas economic inequality is positively related to the extent of applicant faking to a substantial extent. These findings imply that people are sensitive to inequality within countries and that inequality relates to faking, because inequality might actuate other psychological processes (e.g., envy) which in turn increase the probability for unethical behavior in many forms. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
