Why visual and vocal interview cues can affect interviewers' judgments and predict job performance.

Abstract

Using videotaped interviews with 60 managers in utility companies, the authors found that a composite of vocal interview cues (pitch, pitch variability, speech rate, pauses, and amplitude variability) correlated with supervisory ratings of job performance (r = .18, p < .05). Using videotaped interviews with 110 managers in a news-publishing company, the authors found that the same composite of vocal cues correlated with performance ratings (r = .20, p < .05) and with interviewers' judgments (r-.20, p < .05) and that a composite of visual cues (physical attractiveness, smiling, gaze, hand movement, and body orientation) correlated with performance ratings (r = .14, p < .07) and with interviewers' judgments (r = .21, p < .05). Results of tests of mediation effects indicate that personal reactions such as liking, trust, and attributed credibility toward interviewees explain relationships (a) between job performance and vocal cues and (b) between interviewers' judgments and both visual and vocal cues. Empirical research has firmly established that nonverbal visual cues displayed by interviewees affect interviewers' judgments about their suitability for employment (e.g., Gif

Does talking the talk help walking the walk? An examination of the effect of vocal attractiveness in leader effectiveness

“…Our definitions for vocal cues follow directly from DeGroot and Motowidlo (1999). "Pitch" is the average fundamental frequency over an entire speech sample, and it represents how high or low a voice is.…”

“…Previous research on vocal attractiveness has shown that personal reactions such as liking and trust mediate the relationship between vocal attractiveness and job performance evaluations of subordinates (DeGroot & Motowidlo 1999). Similarly, those personal reactions of followers have been studied in the leadership literature as follower effects (Conger et al 2000;Kirkpatrick & Locke 1996;Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, & Fetter 1990) and as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between leadership and followers' evaluations of leaders (Yukl 1989).…”

“…As previously stated, vocal attractiveness is defined as a voice that reveals confidence and lacks tension (Zuckerman & Driver 1989). It is a combination of specific vocal cues (pitch, pitch variability, amplitude variability, pauses, and speech rate) that combine to form a voice that results in favorable impressions on others (DeGroot & Motowidlo 1999). Previous research on vocal attributes shows evidence of a strong link between the five stable and well-researched vocal cues that define vocal attractiveness and perceptions of desired leadership characteristics.…”

“…Finally, both speech rate (the average length of constant levels of pitch) (Street 1984) and pauses (number of voice breaks per period) (Feldman & Rime 1991) have been shown to influence perceptions of competence. A combination of these cues forms an individual's vocal attractiveness (DeGroot & Motowidlo 1999), which is an observable characteristic. To the degree that this observable characteristic forms part of the leadership prototype underlying implicit leadership theories, people who are high on that characteristic or cue should be more likely to be considered better leaders (Offermann et al 1994).…”

“…Important vocal attributes include the back channel of auditory frequency and information as represented by pitch, sound frequency, and amplitude. We define vocal attractiveness as a voice that reveals confidence and lacks tension (Zuckerman & Driver 1989) and that results from a combination of specific vocal attributes (i.e., pitch, pitch variability, amplitude variability, pauses, and speech rate) that combine to form a voice that results in a favorable impression on others (DeGroot & Motowidlo 1999). We argue that a person's vocal attractiveness is a relevant aspect of the leader prototype.…”