Where to seat the applicant? How spatial distance influences the effect of self‐promotion on interviewer evaluations

Abstract

In high-stakes contexts such as job interviews, people seek to be evaluated favorably by others and they attempt to accomplish such favorable judgments particularly through self-promotional behaviors. We sought to examine the persuasiveness of job candidates' self-promotion by examining job applicants' subjective hireability from the perspective of construal-level theory. Construal-level theory states that perceptions occur from different levels of psychological distance (i.e., distal vs. proximal). This distance is created by other dimensions of distance (e.g., spatial or social distance) and affects how individuals construe incoming information. From a large distance, people more readily process abstract information, whereas from a close distance, people more readily process concrete information. Specifically, construal compatibility occurs when abstract versus concrete features of a stimulus match the psychological distance experienced by message-recipients. Construal compatibility (vs. incompatibility) makes evaluations (e.g., of messages) more favorable. To apply this principle to self-promotion, we created selfpromotional videos of a job interview, in which the applicant sat either far away from or close to the hiring manager (manipulating psychological distance); the applicant, then, used either direct or indirect self-promotion (manipulating message construal level). The results showed participants reported stronger intention to hire the applicant when distance matched (vs. did not match) the type of self-promotion the applicant used.

Applicant Fairness Perceptions of a Robot-Mediated Job Interview: A Video Vignette-Based Experimental Survey

“…While the symmetrical version of the FPC is intended to make the job interview fairer for both interviewers and applicants, it may be perceived as having too great a psychological distance (Trope and Liberman, 2010 ) between the communicating parties. A job interview is a high-stake context in which applicants want to make a good impression, which demands a certain degree of self-promotion (Schreurs et al, 2018 ). This degree of self-promotion can be more easily adjusted if the applicant is able to see the non-verbal reactions of the interviewer, which is possible in the asymmetrical version of the FPC.…”

The moderating role of interviewer's regulatory focus in the effectiveness of impression management tactics: Regulatory fit as a source of subjective value

“…These additional subjective values created by regulatory fit were then assigned to the applicants, with whom the interviewers experienced fit. Given that construal compatibility has also been supported as a mechanism to more effective IM tactics (Schreurs et al ., ) and that regulatory focus has been connected to construal level (Lee, Keller, & Sternthal, ), future research should further explore the links between the regulatory fit pathway and the construal compatibility pathway.…”

“…Therefore, interviewers with a promotion (prevention) focus may regard assertive (defensive) tactics as better strategies and rate the applicant more positively. Third, regulatory fit increases processing fluency (Lee & Aaker, 2004), and greater processing fluency perceived by the interviews has been associated with more favourable interview evaluation (Schreurs et al, 2018).…”

“…Their findings supported both mechanisms by showing that self-and other-focused tactics affect hiring recommendations through P-J and P-O fit, respectively, and non-verbal IM tactics exert their effects through the targets' positive mood. Schreurs, Hamstra, Segers, and Schmitte (2018) have recently proposed construal compatibility as a mechanism through which contextual factor such as the seating arrangement of the job interview moderates the effectiveness of IM tactics. Based on construal-level theory stating that construal-level shapes social perceptions and the construal compatibility (vs. incompatibility) between abstract versus concrete features of a message and the psychological distance experienced by message recipients increases perceived ease of processing and leads to more positive evaluation, they found that when the applicant's IM tactics matched (vs. did not match) the spatial distance between the applicant and the interviewer (direct and indirect self-promotion tactics match proximal and distal spatial distance respectively), interview evaluation was more positive.…”

What’s in a word? Using construal-level theory to predict voice endorsement

“…In contrast, small distance, for example when an employee is in the same office or is demographically similar to the supervisor, causes the supervisor to create a representation of the event that focuses on "low" level features; low construal level means that the supervisor will be focusing on the details, feasibility, concrete information and so forth. Voice messages whose features match the level of construal of the supervisor are processed more easily (Amit, Wakslak, & Trope, 2013;Yang, Ringberg, Mao, & Peracchio, 2011), and therefore feel truer and will be more persuasive (Schreurs, Hamstra, Segers, & Schmitte, 2018;Winkielman, Schwarz, Fazendeiro, & Reber, 2003). Message-features associated with construal level are numerous (see Lee, 2019).…”