Perceived interviewee anxiety and performance in telephone interviews
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-05-2018-0033 |
| Pages | 320-332 |
| Date | 03 December 2018 |
| Published date | 03 December 2018 |
| Author | Debora Jeske,Kenneth S. Shultz,Sarah Owen |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Perceived interviewee anxiety
and performance
in telephone interviews
Debora Jeske
Department of Psychology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Kenneth S. Shultz
Department of Psychology, California State University, San Bernardino,
San Bernardino, California, USA, and
Sarah Owen
Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of interviewee anxiety as a predictorof perceived
hireability (Study 1, n¼82) and job suitability (Study 2, n¼74).
Design/methodology/approach –Using an experimental design, participants were randomly allocated to
one of two conditions (an audio recording of either a confident or anxious job candidate with identical scripts)
and asked to take the role of an interviewer.
Findings –The anxiousinterviewee (played by an actor)was consistently rated as less hireable(in a combined
sample based on Studiesand 2), less suitable to the job and received less favorable hiring recommendations
(as assessed in Study2) than the confident interviewee (played by the same actor).
Research limitations/implications –The study was conducted with students who may have less
interview experience than experienced interviewers.
Practical implications –The results suggest that anxiety has a negative biasing effect on perceived
hireability and job suitability ratings. In other words, the behavioral manipulation of anxiety affects
hireability ratings, independent of any subjective assessment of anxiety.
Originality/value –The findings provide evidence of an anxiety bias in telephone interview settings.
The results highlight the importance of considering anxiety cues when training employment interviewers.
Keywords Anxiety, Hireability, Job suitability, Telephone interview, Verbal cues
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Interviewing is a ubiquitous part of the employment recruitment process and is still one of the
most common forms of human resource selection. Thus, one of the main aims of an employment
interview is to gain an accurate assessment of candidates and whether they would be a good fit
for the vacancy and the organization. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors which
may influence, and potentially bias, an interviewer’s perceptions of job candidates. One such
variable is perceived interviewee anxiety (see Huffcutt et al., 2011; McCarthy and Goffin, 2004).
In the context of telephone interviews, such anxiety may have a number of detrimental effects
for how interviewees are evaluated in terms of their characteristics and likely performance.
To date, most previous research investigating performance and anxiety in interviews
has only focused on the face-to-face method (McCarthy and Goffin, 2004; Sieverding, 2009;
Feiler and Powell, 2013). None of the research specifically examined perceived hireability
Evidence-based HRM: a Global
Forum for Empirical Scholarship
Vol. 6 No. 3, 2018
pp. 320-332
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2049-3983
DOI 10.1108/EBHRM-05-2018-0033
Received 15 May 2018
Revised 22 July 2018
Accepted 26 July 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2049-3983.htm
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of two professional actors, the Department of
Psychology and Phil Capewell at Northumbria University in the production of the interview materials.
The authors would also like to thank the participants for their support of this study. Finally, the
authors appreciate the feedback and helpful suggestions that are received from Sonia Lippke, Donna
Garcia and the reviewers of Evidence-based HRM.
320
EBHRM
6,3
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