Identifying the linguistic markers of intuition in human resource (HR) practice

Abstract

Intuitions are judgements that arise automatically and non‐consciously. Recognising when intuitive judgements are being used and whether doing so is appropriate is an important skill both for HR practitioners and managers involved in human resource (HR) processes. Because ‘intuiting’ is involuntary and unconscious it is difficult to access, monitor and control, however people can access and articulate their intuitive judgements through the spoken/written word. Identifying ‘linguistic markers’ of intuitions in spoken/written communications could help identify when/how intuition is being used in HR and improve HR practices in areas such as selection (e.g., obviating implicit/unconscious biases) and creativity (e.g., as a source of insights). This research used computerised text analysis (CTA) to identify linguistic markers of intuition based on HR practitioners' descriptions of what happens when they ‘intuit’. We outline implications of these findings for improving HR decision‐making processes and practices and their potential applications in data analytics, AI and machine learning in HR.

Measuring Creativity in Academic Writing: An Analysis of Essays in Advanced Placement Language and Composition

“…Recent studies have successfully shown technology-based tools measure performance on divergent-thinking tasks (Acar & Runco, 2014; Beketayev & Runco, 2016; Dumas & Dunbar, 2014). The present study supports the assertion that automated forms of assessment provide the required speed and reliability (Sadler-Smith et al, 2021). Extending text-mining tools to reliable automated essay scoring is essential to provide teachers with efficient and effective means to assess compositions.…”

“…We used LIWC (Pennebaker et al, 2015) to obtain a word count for each essay, which it determined against an established dictionary that highlighted psychological phenomena. The original use of LIWC was to determine particular psychological characteristics from written texts but also had applications for academic and creative assessment (Sadler-Smith et al, 2021).…”

Intuition as Emergence: Bridging Psychology, Philosophy and Organizational Science

“…It could have been sufficient to analyze Sinclair and Ashkanasy's construct, which is antecedent and similar to that of Dane and Pratt's, but Dane and Pratt's construct has been increasingly accepted in the field of management as the consensual definition; it is regarded as the most comprehensive and most referenced definition of intuition (Okoli et al, 2021): for example, Akinci and Sadler-Smith (2012, p. 115) wrote that, despite several studies flourishing throughout the years, Dane and Pratt's is the only "comprehensive, integrated account and testable research propositions". So the article has formed the basis of a number of subsequent influential literature reviews, conceptual contributions, and methodological and empirical works; drawing from it, scholars have differentiated intuition from related constructs (Hodgkinson et al, 2008(Hodgkinson et al, , 2009aSadler-Smith, 2010, 2015Salas et al, 2010;Blume and Covin, 2011;Akinci and Sadler-Smith, 2012, 2013, 2020Baldacchino, 2013Baldacchino, , 2019Baldacchino et al, 2015;Healey et al, 2015;Pratt and Crosina, 2016;Calabretta et al, 2017;Okoli et al, 2021;Sadler-Smith et al, 2021). In addition, the article has spread over psychology and neuroscience (Hodgkinson et al, 2008;Hogarth, 2010;Gore and Sadler-Smith, 2011;Hodgkinson and Healey, 2011;Ben-Soussan et al, 2020;Keck and Tang, 2020;Korteling and Toet, 2020;Li et al, 2020;Stephens et al, 2020;West et al, 2020;Muñoz-Cobos and Postigo-Zegarra, 2021;Reynolds et al, 2021;Yu et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2021), as well as distant disciplinary domains, su...…”

Innovating HRM Recruitment: A Comprehensive Review Of AI Deployment

“…AI-enabled tools can be utilized to coordinate with candidates throughout the process. Another study (Sadler-Smith et al, 2022) utilized computerized text analysis to identify linguistic markers of intuition based on HR practices to determine what happens when they intuit. Generally, intuitions arise intentionally and automatically.…”