Impression Management during the Recruitment Process

Tsai, Wei‐Chi; Huang, Tun-Chun

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199756094.013.006

Cited by 7 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…This is in line with and further corroborates prior propositions that one kind of IM behavior may not be relevant for every purpose (Tsai and Huang, 2014; Wilhelmy et al, 2016). In addition, our findings stress that it is crucial to consider various recruiting outcomes, including those that reflect organizations' perspective such as organizational reputation and prestige, but also criteria that reflect applicants' perspective such as their positive affect and belief in the ability to succeed with an interview.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…However, this literature has yet to investigate how applicants respond to interviewer signals such as IM behavior. As a response to repeated calls for research on interviewer IM (e.g., Rosenfeld, 1997; Macan, 2009; Dipboye and Johnson, 2013) and, more specifically, on the mechanism by which applicants respond to interviewer IM (e.g., Gilmore et al, 1999; Celani and Singh, 2011; Tsai and Huang, 2014), our study offers a new perspective by not only incorporating IM behavior that interviewers apply, but also applicants' perceptions of interviewer IM and their reactions. Adopting a signaling perspective (Connelly et al, 2011), we conducted a field study to examine whether the signals that interviewers send (i.e., interviewer IM) are received by applicants (i.e., applicants' perceptions of interviewer IM), and how applicants react to the signals they receive (i.e., recruiting outcomes).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the IM literature makes a fundamental distinction between self-focused IM and other-focused IM (Tsai and Huang, 2014). From the perspective of the interviewer, a central self-focused IM behavior is organization-enhancement, sometimes used interchangeably with the term enhancement of the organization or self-enhancement.…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Selling and Smooth-Talking: Effects of Interviewer Impression Management from a Signaling Perspective

et al. 2017

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Prior research suggests that interviewers play an important role in representing their organization and in making the interview a pleasant experience for applicants. This study examined whether impression management used by interviewers (organization-enhancement and applicant-enhancement) is perceived by applicants, and how it influences applicants' attitudes, intentions, and emotions. Adopting a signaling perspective, this article argues that applicants' positive attitudes and intentions toward the organization increase if interviewers not only enhance the organization, but if the signals they sent (i.e., organization-enhancement) are actually received by the applicant. Similarly, applicants' positive emotions should increase if interviewers not only enhance the applicant, but if the signals they send (i.e., applicant-enhancement) are actually received by the applicant. A field study that involved video coding interviewers' impression management behavior during 153 selection interviews and pre- and post-interview applicant surveys showed that the signals sent by interviewers during the interview were received by applicants. In addition, applicants rated the organization's prestige and their own positive affect after the interview more positively when they perceived higher levels of organization-enhancement during the interview. Furthermore, applicants reported more positive affect and interview self-efficacy after the interview when they perceived higher levels of interviewer applicant-enhancement. We also found an indirect effect of interviewers' organization-enhancement on organizational prestige through applicants' perceptions of organization-enhancement as well as indirect effects of interviewers' applicant-enhancement on applicants' positive affect and interview self-efficacy through applicants' perceptions of applicant-enhancement. Our findings contribute to an integrated understanding of the effects of interviewer impression management and point out both risks and chances in selling and smooth-talking toward applicants.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Selling and Smooth-Talking: Effects of Interviewer Impression Management from a Signaling Perspective

et al. 2017

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“…For example, to integrate both interview consistency and personableness in the same employment interview, standardized interview questions can be asked in a warm and friendly way. In addition, a multi-tiered approach might be used, in which standardized interview parts (for the purpose of selection) are combined with less restricted, more spontaneous interview parts (for the purpose of recruitment, see also Farago et al, 2013;Tsai & Huang, 2014).…”

Section: Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

What Do Consistency and Personableness in the Interview Signal to Applicants? Investigating Indirect Effects on Organizational Attractiveness Through Symbolic Organizational Attributes

et al. 2018

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Personnel selection research has recognized the importance of providing applicants with both standardized (i.e., "consistent") and individualized (i.e., "personable") treatment during interviews. However, research has yet to examine the mechanisms underlying the effects of perceived consistency and personableness in the interview on applicants' attraction to organizations. Drawing from signaling theory, we investigate how interview consistency and personableness impact organizational attractiveness. To this end, we developed a conceptual model that proposes that applicants interpret perceived interview consistency and personableness as signals about what the organization is like in terms of symbolic organizational attributes (organizational competence and benevolence, Lievens & Highhouse, 2003), which in turn influence perceptions of organizational attractiveness. A longitudinal three-wave field study with 129 applicants showed that applicants' perceptions of both consistency and personableness positively impacted organizational attractiveness. Additionally, these effects were mediated by organizational competence perceptions, but not by organizational benevolence perceptions. Furthermore, consistency and personableness perceptions differed in their relative influence on organizational competence, benevolence, and attractiveness, with personableness perceptions being a more influential predictor. This study contributes to a nuanced theoretical understanding of how applicants interpret interviews as signals about how organizations treat their members.

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“…However, despite the abundance of research on IM effects, its determinants and moderators, very few studies have paid attention to cultural differences in IM use and effects on interview outcomes ( Tsai and Huang, 2013 ; Bolino et al, 2016 ). This is remarkable given the fast rate at which the labor market is becoming multicultural and organizations search for talented workers, also among previously unexplored talent groups, like ethnic minorities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic Minorities’ Impression Management in the Interview: Helping or Hindering?

Derous

2017

Front. Psychol.

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Cross-cultural impression management (IM) has not been considered much, which is remarkable given the fast rate at which the labor market is becoming multicultural. This study investigated whether ethnic minorities and majorities differed in their preference for IM-tactics and how this affected ethnic minorities’ interview outcomes. A preliminary study (focus groups/survey) showed that ethnic minorities (i.e., Arab/Moroccans) preferred ‘entitlements’ whereas majorities (i.e., Flemish/Belgians) preferred ‘opinion conformity’ as IM-tactics. An experimental follow-up study among 163 ethnic majority raters showed no main effect of IM-tactics on interview ratings. Ethnic minorities’ use of IM-tactics only affected interview ratings if rater characteristics were considered. Specifically, interview ratings were higher when ethnic minorities used opinion conformity (i.e., majority-preferred IM-tactic) and lower when minorities used entitlements (i.e., minority-preferred IM-tactic) if recruiters were high in social dominance orientation, and when they felt more experienced/proficient with interviewing. IM-tactics are a human capital factor that might help applicants to increase their job chances on the labor market. It is concluded that ethnic minority applicants’ preferences for certain IM-tactics might lead to bias even in structured interview settings, but that this depends on ethnic majority recruiters’ interview experience and ingroup/outgroup attitudes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

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Impression Management during the Recruitment Process

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Selling and Smooth-Talking: Effects of Interviewer Impression Management from a Signaling Perspective

Selling and Smooth-Talking: Effects of Interviewer Impression Management from a Signaling Perspective

What Do Consistency and Personableness in the Interview Signal to Applicants? Investigating Indirect Effects on Organizational Attractiveness Through Symbolic Organizational Attributes

Ethnic Minorities’ Impression Management in the Interview: Helping or Hindering?

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