Students' Expectations About Interviewees' and Interviewers' Achievement Emotions in Job Selection Interviews

The author investigated expectations about achievement emotions characterizing job selection interviews while considering literature on the influence of positive and negative affect. Study participants were 282 Italian 12th graders and university students who were given a questionnaire asking them to imagine being interviewees in a future interview and to evaluate the intensity of interviewees' and interviewers' emotions. Expectations varied according to the kind of emotion, and interviewees and interviewers differentiated in terms of activating and deactivating emotions. Positive emotions prevailed for interviewees, with younger students giving higher scores. Some emotions were linked to career self‐efficacy and job market experience. Results are discussed in light of applied relevance for employment counseling.