From first impressions to selection decisions: The role of dispositional cognitive motivations in the employment interview

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how individual interviewers’ dispositional cognitive motivations may influence interview interactions and outcomes. More specifically, this study explores the influence of the need for cognition, need for cognitive closure, and accountability on the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personnel review 2019-01, Vol.48 (1), p.249-272
Main Authors: Florea, Liviu, Valcea, Sorin, Hamdani, Maria Riaz, Dougherty, Thomas W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Behavior
Bias
Cognition & reasoning
Decision making
Employment
Employment interviews
Flexibility
Heuristic
Hypotheses
Information processing
Studies
Validity
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Summary:PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how individual interviewers’ dispositional cognitive motivations may influence interview interactions and outcomes. More specifically, this study explores the influence of the need for cognition, need for cognitive closure, and accountability on the relationship between first impressions and selection decisions.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 41 graduate students were assigned the role of interviewers and were tasked to interview 331 undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. The selection interview was designed to recruit qualified undergraduate students to the MBA program of the university.FindingsFirst impressions significantly influenced selection decisions, but did not influence interviewers’ behaviors. Moreover, multilevel analyses reveal that interviewers’ need for cognition and accountability moderate the relationship between first impression and selection decisions, albeit in different direction. Need for cognition strengthens, whereas accountability weakens the relationship between first impression and selection decision.Research limitations/implicationsA potential interviewer bias is apparent, where interviewers high on need for cognition tend to weight first impressions more in the decision process. However, this bias was not directly observable, since interviewers’ behaviors during the interview were not affected by first impressions.Originality/valueThe present study goes beyond previous research on first impressions in the employment interview, finding that dispositional differences account for the tendency to weigh first impressions in the selection decision.
ISSN:0048-3486
1758-6933
DOI:10.1108/PR-11-2017-0345