PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Donald Allen
Industrial/Organizational
January 2000

The Influence of Environment on Job Interview Ratings with Potential Moderation by Personality Variables

    The purpose of this research was to determine whether job interview candidates perform poorly in a cold (non-verbal) emotional interview setting.  Also, to determine if personality variables might moderate the influence of the cold setting.  We examined the differences in applicant ratings between interviewers and videotape raters.

    Subjects were gathered form the psych 100 pool.  They were administered two personality inventories; the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.  They also participated in mock job interviews.  They were randomly assigned into a warm interview setting or a cold one.  Interviewers were trained appropriately beforehand.  Subjects were video taped during the interview.  Applicants were measured by interviewers and later by videotape raters on the Job Application Scale and a Likert style “likelihood of hiring.”  Data was analyzed using an ANOVA on the video tape ratings using dichotomized variables of the personality tests.  Also, a t-test was used to determine if there is a significant difference between videotape ratings and interviewer ratings.

    It was hypothesized that applicants would perform less well in the cold emotional setting for the job interview.  This was hypothesized to be moderated by personality, as those that score high in Self-Esteem and more internal in Locus of Control should have scored higher than their opposites in the cold condition. This would support theories that 'interviewer conduct' influences applicant behavior and does not just passively measure it.  Also, it was hypothesized that interviewer ratings of applicants will be significantly different from videotape ratings of those applicants.  This would indicate that interviewers are not only causing the warm/cold condition but are being influenced by it as well.  It would support the idea that the job interview as a tool is not only measuring applicant behavior but also interviewer behavior as well.

    The present research indicates that applicants or interviewers are able to compensate for the cold condition.  There was no evidence found to support the theory that personality would interact with the cold condition.  There was a significant difference between video raters and interviewers (using the same interviews).  Internal locus of control was found to be linked to higher scores from videotape raters.  High self-esteem was found to be linked to higher scores from live interviewers.  It would suggest that different cues are being utilized in the different methods.

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