Flexibility in Interviewing: Mechanism to Overcome the ImpressionManagement Bias in Selection Process

By

Archana Thulaseedharan

Asst.Professor

Dept. of Management

Bishop Jerome Institute Kollam

Anil GS

Asst. Professor

Dept. of Management

Bishop Jerome Institute Kollam

Dr .Vinith Kumar Nair

Associate Professor

TKM Institute of Management, Kollam

Abstract

Impression management (IM) has become an inevitable part oftoday’s corporate world. But this is a major concern for thehiring managers in selection process, especially in the interviewprocess. The objective of this study is to find out the variousimpression management behavior used by the male candidates andfemale candidates during the interview process. This quantitativestudy found out that the male candidates used assertiveimpression management behavior, while the female candidatesshowed defensive impression management behavior. The literaturereview and focus group discussion conducted by the researchersreveals that the assertive impression management behavior has apositive impact on selection process. In this context, the studythus stresses on the importance of flexibility in interviewingprocess.

Key words: Impression management, Assertive ImpressionManagement, Defensive Impression Management, Flexibility.

Introduction

Plato spoke of the "great stage of human life" and Shakespearecrafted the famous sentence "All the world is a stage, and allthe men and women merely players" in the seventeenth century.People got an ongoing interest in how others perceive andevaluate them. The process by which individuals attempt toinfluence the impressions others hold of them in socialinteractions is called Impression Management (IM), (Rosenfeld,Giacalone, & Riordan, 1995), and this is major concern is forhiring managers in employee selection.

In order to improve and sustain organization performance,organizations need right staff and for this recruitment andselection is vital (Petts, 1997).Thus an effective recruitmentand selection process of employees is quite essential for aneffective human resource management. Because this can have asignificant impact on organizational performance as well as lead

to a more positive organizational image (Pilbeam and Corbridge,2006).) Hiring managers use various techniques to choose theright candidate. But the most widely used selection procedure isemployment interview. In spite of years of research questioningthe validity of the interview and the reliability ofinterviewers, almost all types of organizations include some typeof interview in their selection process. (Judge etal 2000)

Taylor, P. (1998) studied about the validity of variousrecruitment and selection measures e.g., interviewing, referencechecks, the conditions necessary to maximize the effectiveness ofthese practices, and common mistaken perceptions of the interviewprocess. There has been growing concern, expressed by severalauthors internationally in Industrial, Work, and Organizational(IWO) psychology, of an increasing divide between research andpractice in personnel selection. While many would recognize thatselection psychology has flourished as a research-basedprofessional practice, there have been unambiguous signs that thepractitioner and scientific wings of the discipline have beenmoving away from each other over the past decade or so (e.g.,Anderson, Herriot, & Hodgkinson, 2001 ; Dunnette, 1990 ;Hodgkinson, Herriot, & Anderson, 2001 ; Sackett, 1994)

When we examine the interview process it was found thatimpression management has a major impact on selection process. Itwas found that candidates showing impression management behaviorespecially assertive behavior that is behavior that serve increating a positive image are evaluated positively by theinterviewer than candidates that shows defensive impressionbehavior. Defensive impression management is characterized byprotecting the negative behavior which in turn will not create animpression in the interview process (Gilmore& Ferris; 1989)

It was also found in the studies of Singh and Vinnicombe (2001)that successful employees seem to manage actively the impressionsand it is a key component of today’s corporate world. But if thatis case, then it will negatively affect employees who are notgood in managing the impressions (Kilduff & Day 1994).It was alsofound that male and female candidates show different impression

management behavior. Studies showed that male candidates showmore of an assertive impression management tactics, while femalecandidates show more of defensive impression management behavior(Heim 1994).

The objective of his study is to find out the impressionmanagement tactics used by male and female candidates in aninterview. While studies on impression management tactics withspecific reference to gender has been studied extensively veryfew studies are there focusing on the impression managementtactics used by male and female candidates on interviews in theKerala region. Also the study is quite significant becauseimpression management tactics is a serious concern for hiringmanagers. When male and female candidates are showing differenttactics there are chances that a bias in selecting the rightcandidate might figure up.

Theoretical framework

Impression management behavior is usually divided into assertivebehavior and defensive behavior. Assertive behavior is pointed atcreating a favorable impression with another person, whiledefensive impression management behavior is focused at protectingone’s image. (Gilmore & Ferris, 1989; Ellis et al., 2002).Assertive behavior can again be classified into two; focus onothers as is the case with ingratiation and focus on the self, asis the case with self-promotion (Proost, Schreurs, De Witte,&Derous, 2010).

Ingratiation and self-promotion are the impression managementpatterns most frequently observed during personnel selection andit is seen as especially relevant for interpersonal interactionsin organizations. Ingratiation fosters interpersonal liking,(e.g. by expressing gratitude towardsothers, stressing similaritybetween oneself and the other, and praising the other). Self-promotion is about looking competent by stressing one’sextraordinary experiences, highlighting one’s qualities, andpointing out one’s accomplishments. While defensive strategies

focus on protecting themselves from negative or skill deficit(e.g., Gordon, 1996; Proost et al., 2010; Stevens &Kristof, 1995)and Jones and Pittman (1982).A significant number of studiesreveal the role of impression management in selection interview.It was also found that assertive behaviors is much more relevantin the context of personnel selection (Gilmore & Ferris, 1989;Ellis et al., 2002)

Literature Review

Effective recruitment and selection is essential and most crucialto the successful functioning of the organization. In order todeliver the organization’s strategic objectives and to make apositive contribution to the values of the organization, there isdire need to find people with the necessary skills, expertise andqualifications to (Sisson, 1994).A good selection, thus is amethodical approach to the problem of finding the right personfor the job. This is done through Preliminary Interview,Selection Tests, Employment Interview , Reference and BackgroundAnalysis , Physical Examination , Job Offer and EmploymentContract, and the stages in Selection Process include: Stage 1:Screening Of Application Forms. Stage 2: Tests--Intelligence,Aptitude, Technical, Psychometric, Ability, Interest. Stage 3:Selection Interview. Stage 4: Selection Decision Schmidt andHunter (1998),

Selection interview is the most popular techniques used byorganizations to choose the best candidate for the job. It is “adialogue initiated by one or more persons to gather informationand evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for employment.”(Dipboye, 1992).In HRM, Interview techniques, application formsand letters of reference is referred to as ‘the classic trio’Cook, 1994) Organizations employ a variety of selectiontechniques, and statistical theory is used to give credibility totechniques that attempt to measure people. Organizations also

need to consider reactions of applicants to selection methods andan important factor is the perception of fair treatment (Gatewoodand Field, 1994).

Studies of Dipboye, (1992), the role of impression managementtechniques in the process of interview is very essential. This isbecause impression management “is concerned explicitly with howpeople create positive views of themselves in others whileavoiding negative views” (Burgoon, Buller& Woodall, 1996). Thestudy of impression management was brought to the field ofpsychology during the 1960s by the social psychologist, Edward E.Jones; He extended it to include people’s attempts to controlothers' impression of their personal characteristics.

Impression management helps to influence the perceptions of otherpeople about a person, object or event though a goal directedconscious or unconscious attempt. Thus it helps to regulate andcontrol information in social interaction (Goffman, 1959). Inorder to control self-relevant images projected in real orimagined social interaction, Schlenker (1980) believed that atechnique called self-presentation should be used .People areinvolved not only in creating impressions of themselves but alsofocus on entities other than themselves such as businesses,cities and other individuals (Leary & Kowalski 1990).

The concept of self is significant to the theory of impressionmanagement and it develops from social experience early in life.Further studies suggest that children anticipate the impact oftheir behaviors on others and how others will evaluate them.Based on the same, they control the impressions they might formon others and in doing so they control the outcomes they obtainfrom social interactions. (Schlenker 1980,).

Social identity refers to how people are identified and viewed byothers in social interactions. Individuals through impressionmanagement strategies, influences the social identity they

project to others. This identity is very important as thisinfluences their behavior in front of others, others' treatmentof them and the outcomes they receive. Therefore, in theirattempts to create the impressions, a person plays an importantrole in affecting his social outcomes. (Schlenker, 1980)

In the study conducted by Chien-Cheng Chen, Irene Wen-Fen Yang,Wei-Chih Lin (2010) shows that IM tactics like Self-Focused IM,(SFIM) by creating an image by projecting oneself, Other-FocusedIM, (OFIM) by creating an impression by focusing others,Eg,Flattering, and non-verbal IM, (NVIM) through impressive handgestures, body postures etc,are positively related to interviewerevaluations. There are various type of impression managementattempts but the most popular one is verbal self-promotions, inwhich positive assertive statements are made regarding theskills and abilities. These types of statements are consideredeither assertive (applicant initiated) or defensive (applicantresponse to interviewer assumptions). Assertive self-promotion ischaracterized by self-focused statements that indicate theapplicant possesses necessary skills, abilities, and positivecharacteristics. Additionally, applicants typically try to getthe interviewer to feel good about them (other-focused) by tryingto demonstrate that they hold similar beliefs and values, andattempting to build rapport and familiarity with theinterviewer(Van Iddekinge, McFarland, L.A., & Raymark,P.H.,2007).

Individuals use various impression management tactics inemployment interviews to present themselves as suitablecandidates to interviewers. However, all impression managementtactics, or all the applicants who use them, need not positivelyinfluence interview scores. The type of IM tactic plays a majorrole in interview success. Specifically, self-promotion was foundto have a positive relationship Swider, Brian W.; Barrick, MurrayR.; Harris, T. Brad; Stoverink, Adam C.2011.It was found that

candidates using assertive impression management behavior i.e.Creating a positive image proactively during selection processreceives better evaluation (Barrick, Shaffer, &DeGrassi,2009;Peeters&Lievens, 2006)

Literature also shows that there is a difference in theimpression management tactics used by male and female employees.According to Heim (1993), women focus on what is fair whilst menplay to win, during a negotiation and that this is grounded inchildhood experiences. Several studies have shown that women evenhave a tendency to underrate their achievements. They also haveless confidence in their abilities than their managers have forthem. Women also tend to be more modest in public situations suchas workplace compared to men; a concept called female modestyeffect as described by Rudman (1998) studies of Dubrin in his book“Meaning and Nature of Impression Management shows that men tend toshow more assertive style of impression management while womenshoed more of a defensive strategies. The study also revealed thatwomen tend to show less impression management strategies.

Objectives of the study

Most of the studies dealing with impression management focus onimpression management tactics and gender differences .Hence our focuswas on finding out the impression management tactics of gender withspecific emphasis on impact of their tactics on interview. The studythus attempts to find out quantitatively the differences in impressionmanagement tactics used by male and female candidates in the interviewprocess. An attempt is also made to study qualitatively the impressionmanagement factors that influence the hiring decision as well as thepreferable mode of interviewing

1. H1: There is gender difference in the impression managementbehavior of male and female candidates

2. H1: Male candidates show more Self-assertive impressionmanagement behavior during interviews

3. H1: Female candidates show more Defensive impression managementbehavior during interviews

Methodology

The quantitative study was conducted through questionnaire survey. Thesample was taken from 35 IT companies of Techno Park, Trivandrum. Asour objective was to find out the gender differences in impressionmanagement strategies the sample comprised of 60 female employees and40 male employees. Since the study was to find out the impressionmanagement style they focuses in interview we selected employees with0-1 year experience using stratified sampling. They were all with goodIT education background (B Tech, MCA, M.Sc etc.)

The questionnaire consists of 15 items. Out of which, the first 7items comes under the construct Assertive Self-Focused Impression Management,the next 6 items comes under the construct Defensive Impression Managementand the last two items comes in the category of Assertive Other Focusedimpression management strategies. The constructs are developed from theliterature review undertaken in the beginning of the study as well asfrom the focus group study conducted by the researchers.

The focus group was conducted with 16 employees. There were 12 HRmanagers and four employees with 0-1 year experience. The discussionwas to find out the different impression management tactics used bythe women as well as male employees in the interview setting. It wasfound from the focus group discussion that male candidates usuallyprefer assertive strategy while female candidates usually focus ondefensive impression management strategy. The focus group discussionalso revealed that that impression management influences the hiringdecision

A descriptive analysis of the data to find out the mean standarddeviation and variance using SPSS has been done. This helps to findout the distributions of the variables

Since the sample comprises of male and female respondents and one ofthe objectives of the study was to find out whether there isdifference in the impression management tactics, an unrelated t test orthe independent measures t test is undertaken. This is to find out thesignificant differences in the means of two samples.

This was followed by measuring the internal consistency of all itemsin the questionnaire by finding out the Chronbach’s alpha. Alpha wasmeasured on the same scale as a Pearson r using SPSS to find out whetherthe value is closer to one (typically it varies between 0-1).This alsohelps us to find out whether the inter correlation between the itemsis large or small.

We have also found out whether there is any significant difference inmale candidates and female candidates on Assertive Self-focused,Assertive Others focused and Defensive Behavior using 1- tailedindependent t test .We also found out the Chronbach’s alpha of theitems in the above three constructs to find out the internalconsistency. Followed by this we found the correlation among the threeconstructs.

Findings and Discussion

The focus group discussion of HR managers showed that candidates

showing assertive impression management behavior are evaluated

positively than defensive impression management behavior. It was found

that 91.6% of the HR managers agreed that assertive impression

management behavior has an impact on selection process. It was also

found that 83% of HR managers agreed that assertive impression

management strategies influence the selection process to a great

extent .The discussion also found that defensive impression management

strategies will have a negative impact on selection process .When

asked to what extent, almost everyone agreed that to a great extent it

influences their hiring decision.

The second objective of the discussion was to find out whether there

is a difference in the impression management strategies used by male

and female candidates. It was found that 83% of HR managers agree that

women show more of a defensive style and men show more of assertive

style of impression management behavior

From the focus group we moved to find out the impression management

behavior of male and female candidates during the interview. The

descriptive statistics of the data is analyzed using SPSS is shown in

table 1. It was found that the mean values for the first seven

factors ( Self-projection, play up strength, express on what u can

do ,confidence about the achievements, belief in overselling

capabilities, overselling cap[abilities, making assertive

statements)are higher for male candidates than female candidates.

If we take the first factor self-projection, the mean value for male

candidate is 3.2 while that of female candidate is 2.61. These factors

come under the construct assertive behaviour. All the seven items

coming under this construct was rated using a five point likert type

response format anchored by 5 (almost always) 4 (sometimes) 3 (Once

in a while) 2 (Rarely) 1 (Never).If we take the next six factors

(tackling the skill deficit, modest expression of skill deficit,

tendency to downplay capabilities, embarrassment in exhibiting

achievements, focus on weakness, giving explanation to skill

deficit)the weightage factors were reversed i.e. defensive factors

were given less weightage 1 (almost always) 2 (sometimes) 3 (Once in

a while) 4(Rarely) 5 (Never).

For e.g. If we take the factor, tackling skill deficit the mean value

for male candidate is 3.4 and that of female is 2.5. We got a higher

mean value for male candidates which means they are less defensive and

a lower female mean value shows that female candidates are more

defensive

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics

The test static T obtained for the variables are shown intable 2 .For the variable self-projection, the t value is2.557,which is greater than the table value 1.97.Hence thereis significant difference between male and female candidatesin using the self-projection impression management behaviorwhich is confirmed by a single 2 tailed value of0.012.Simmilarly the T values of all the other 14 variables asshown in table is greater than the table value which showsthat there is significant differences in male and femaleimpression management behavior and hence we accept thealternate hypothesis. To test the internal consistency of allthe 15items, the Chronbach’s alpha is measured. As shown inTable 3 α=.975 which shows a high consistency

Table 2:Independent samples t Test

Table 3:Cronbach’s Alpha of 15items

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha

Cronbach's Alpha Basedon Standardized Items

N of Items

.975 .975 15

The three constructs we developed in the questionnaire Assertive Self-Focused Impression Management Behavior, Defensive Impressionmanagement behavior and Assertive others focused impression managementbehavior were then taken individually and the significance wasmeasured using independent sample t test .As shown in table 4, the onetail value obtained for assertive self-focused impression managementbehavior is 3.474 and the significance is .0005(2 tailed is .001)sincethere is significant difference the alternate hypothesis is accepted,i.e. male candidates show more assertive behavior than femalecandidates

Table 4: Independent sample t Test: Assertive self-focused impressionmanagement strategy

Next we found out the significance of Defensive behavior. The one tailvalue obtained for defensive behavior is 4.269and the significance is 0.since there is a significant difference the alternate hypothesis is accepted i.e. female candidate show more defensive behavior than male candidates. Here as mentioned earlier the weightage factors were reversed i.e. defensive factors were given less weightage 1 (almost always) 2 (sometimes) 3 (Once in a while) 4(Rarely) 5 (Never).

Table 5: Independent sample t Test: Defensive Impression ManagementBehavior

Lower UpperEqual variances assum ed

.007 .931 4.269 98 .000 .83194 .19488 .44521 1.21868

Equal variances not assum ed

4.256 82.859 .000 .83194 .19547 .44315 1.22074

dfSig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

defensive

Independent Sam ples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t

As table 6 shows the one tail value of Assertive Other Focused impression Management Behavior of male and female candidates is 3.041 and the significance is .0015,hence the alternate hypothesis is accepted i.e. male candidates show more assertive other focused impression management behavior than female candidates

Table 6: Independent sample t Test: Assertive Other Focused impressionManagement Behavior

Lower UpperEqual variances assum ed

1.068 .304 3.041 98 .003 .65833 .21651 .22867 1.08800

Equal variances not assum ed

2.969 76.764 .004 .65833 .22175 .21676 1.09991

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Othersassertiveim

Independent Sam ples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t dfSig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

To test the internal consistency of items in each construct the chronbach’s alpha is measured. Table 7 shows α for self-assertive behavior is .947, α for defensive behavior is .946 (Table 9), and α for assertive other focused is .898 (table 11).All the values shows a high internal consistency.

Table 7: Cronbach Alpha for Self-assertive impressionmanagement behavior.

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach'sAlpha

Cronbach'sAlpha Based

onStandardized

Items N of Items.947 .948 7

Table 8:Item Statistics Self-assertive impressionmanagement behavior

MeanStd.

Deviation NSELFPROJECTION 2.8700 1.18624 100PLAYUPSTRENGTH 2.9200 1.14310 100

EXPRESSONWHATUCANDO 2.9700 1.03918 100CONFIDENTABOUTACHIEVE

MENTS3.0800 1.07947 100

BELIEFINOVERSELLINGCAPABILITIES

3.0400 1.17138 100

OVERSELLINGCAPABALITIES

2.8900 1.26247 100

ASSERTIVESTATEMENTS 3.0500 1.07661 100

Table 9: Cronbach’s alpha for Defensive impression managementbehavior.Reliability Statistics

Cronbach'sAlpha

Cronbach'sAlpha Based

onStandardized

Items N of Items.946 .946 6

Table 10 Item Statisticsfor Defensive impression management behavior.

MeanStd. Deviation N

TACKLINGSKILLDEFICIT

2.9300 1.22479 100

MODESTEXPRESSIONOFSKILLDEFICIT

2.9300 1.16563 100

DOWNPLAYCAPABILITIES

2.8000 1.10096 100

EMBARRACEMENTINEXHIBITINGACHIEVEMENT

2.8500 1.15798 100

FOCUSONWEAKNESS 2.9200 1.10718 100EXPLANATIONTONTOSKILLDEFICIT

2.8000 1.23091 100

Table 11Cronbach’s alpha for others focused assertive impression management behavior.Reliability Statistics

Cronbach'sAlpha

Cronbach'sAlpha Based on Standardized Items

N of Items

.898 .898 2

Table 12 Item Statistics

MeanStd. Deviation N

FAVOURABLESTATEMENTSABOUTPRGANIZATION

2.7400 1.17740 100

FAVORABLESTATEMENTSABOUTINTERVIEWRS

2.8200 1.14044 100

We also found out whether there is any significant correlation between assertive self-focused and assertive other focused .The correlation value r =.869shows there is positive correlation between self-focused and other focused.(Table13)The correlation value for r for Self-assertive and defensive is .907,(here we have reversed the anchors Hence we dint get a negative value) otherwise showing a negative correlation.(table 14).The correlation value for Assertive other focused and Defensive is .873 ,(here again we have reversed the anchors hence we got apositive value) otherwise a negative correlation

Table 13 Correlation between Assertive Self-Focused and AssertiveOther Focused

Correlationsselfassertive

imOthersassertivei

mselfassertiveim

Pearson Correlation

1 .869

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

N 100 100Othersassertiveim

Pearson Correlation

.869 1

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

N 100 100

Table 14 Correlation between Assertive Self-Focused and Defensive

Table 15 Correlations between Defensive and Assertive Others Focused

Conclusion

Impression Management helps to create a positive image on others.The study focused on finding out the role of ImpressionManagement in selection process. The study found out that for theconstruct assertive behavior male candidates have high mean valuescompared to female candidates. For the factor self-projection, themean value for male candidate is 3.2 while that of femalecandidate is 2.61. These factors come under the constructassertive behavior. All the seven items coming under thisconstruct was rated using a five point likert type response

format anchored by 5 (almost always) 4 (sometimes) 3 (Once in awhile) 2 (Rarely) 1 (Never).If we take the next six factors(tackling the skill deficit, modest expression of skill deficit,tendency to downplay capabilities, embarrassment in exhibitingachievements, focus on weakness, giving explanation to skilldeficit)the weightage factors were reversed i.e. defensivefactors were given less weightage 1 (almost always) 2 (sometimes)3 (Once in a while) 4(Rarely) 5 (Never).The t test resultsconcluded that there is difference in the male and femaleimpression management behavior. To test the internal consistencyof all the 15items, the Chronbach’s alpha is measured. The alphavalue (α=.975) shows a high consistency. The one tail valueobtained for assertive self-focused impression managementbehavior is 3.474 and the significance is .0005(2 tailedis .001).Since there is significant difference; we concluded thatmale candidates show more assertive behavior than femalecandidates. Next we found out the significance of Defensivebehavior. The one tail value obtained for defensive behavior is4.269 and the significance is 0.Since there is significantdifference we concluded that the female candidate show moredefensive behavior than male candidates. Here as mentionedearlier the weightage factors were reversed i.e. defensivefactors were given less weightage 1 (almost always) 2 (sometimes)3 (Once in a while) 4(Rarely) 5 (Never). The one tail value ofAssertive Other Focused impression Management Behavior of maleand female candidates is 3.041 and the significance is .0015,hence we concluded that male candidates show more assertive otherfocused impression management behavior than female candidates.The internal consistency of items in each construct is measuredusing chronbach’s alpha. The study found out that α for self-assertive behavior is .947, α for defensive behavior is .946(Table 9), and α for assertive other focused is .898 (table11).All the values shows a high internal consistency. We alsofound out whether there is any significant correlation betweenassertive self-focused and assertive other focused .Thecorrelation value r =.869shows there is positive correlationbetween self-focused and other focused. The correlation value rfor Self-assertive and defensive is .907, (here we have reversedthe anchors Hence we dint get a negative value) otherwise showing

a negative correlation. The correlation value for Assertive otherfocused and Defensive is .873, (here again we have reversed theanchors hence we got a positive value) otherwise a negativecorrelation Thus the study found that male candidates show moreassertive impression management behavior, while female candidatesshow defensive aggressive behavior. It was also found thatAssertive Impression management has more positive impact thandefensive impression management. Hence this can lead to biasbeing formed among the interviewers and there are chances ofrejection of female candidates. Hence we suggest that the hiringmanagers should be more flexible in interviewing the candidates.We felt that while interviewing the female candidates, the hiringmanagers should probe with more questions and explore the skills.They should ask more questions to get a real picture of theirskills. The hiring Managers should not focus on the Assertivenessor defensiveness. Their focus should be to make the womencandidates speak more about their achievements or skills. When itcomes to male candidates, they will do it without probing. Or inother words, hiring managers should have two different styleswhile interviewing male candidates and female candidates

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