MECHANISMS TO REDUCE PRE-INTERVIEW EXPECTANCY EFFECTS IN SELECTION DECISIONS

Mechanisms to reduce pre-interview expectancy effects in selection decisions were designed. Research studies indicate that interviewers who preview applicant information form initial impressions that lead to biased evaluations of the candidate's interview performance. The effects of pre-interview expectancies surface when interviewers who have previewed favorable information evaluate the candidate's interview performance more favorably than those who have previewed unfavorable initial information. Two interventions were designed to reduce bias in evaluations caused by pre-interview expectancy effects. The first adopted measures to prevent the formation of initial impressions by reducing interviewers' reliance on trait categories and person schemas to process information. The second involved procedures to compensate for initial impressions after they had formed through the use of various situational cues.;Results indicate that pre-interview expectancy effects are fairly strong and impervious to simple intervention mechanisms. Neither one of the interventions was successful in reducing pre-interview expectancy effects. Unexpectedly, the group that saw the positive preview described the candidate's trait characteristics and evaluated the interview performance more accurately than the group that previewed the negative information. It is suggested that negative initial impressions may have a greater impact on subsequent evaluations compared to positive initial impressions. Possible reasons for the failure of the intervention mechanisms to reduce pre-interview expectancy effects along with suggestions for future research are discussed.;Two hundred and ten participants took part in the study and 180 of them previewed either positive or negative applicant information. Then they observed an interview videotape. Recall measures and ratings of interview performance were gathered. Participants were randomly assigned to two experimental and one control groups. Those in the experimental groups received instructions based on the two intervention mechanisms. The control group was simply asked to observe and rate the candidate's interview performance. The remaining 30 participants neither previewed any applicant material nor received any special instructions and only viewed the interview tape.