Whose lying during interviews
Did you know that the average person lies between one to two times a day? Moreover, in the research by Feldman et al. (2002), it was found that when people tried to portray themselves as likeable or skilled, they told an average of 1.75 lies during ten minutes. Weiss, B., & Feldman, R. S. (2006)
The job interview process is a process with risk for both the interviewer and the interviewee. From the interviewer's side, the decision to choose the right person for the position will affect not only the function of performing the job, but also have a broad impact on the company itself - expanding organizational intelligence, productivity, company branding in the eyes of potential candidates, and the social climate.
From the candidate's side, a successful job interview will affect the feeling of stability and self-esteem and will increase the level of material prosperity and financial security. Considering that the job interview is the almost decisive stage in the question, whether to accept a candidate for work, it's not surprising that much attention is given to the interview process.
Impression management tactics are generally defined as a person's attempts to position themselves in a positive light, where in job interviews this is the candidate's attempt to present themselves as capable, likeable, and having high potential. The use of impression management techniques is proven to work - thus in the research by Kacmar and Carlson (1999), it was found that candidates who used impression management techniques were the most liked by interviewers and were perceived as more suitable for the position, regardless of their skills. Weiss, B., & Feldman, R. S. (2006).
Types of impression management tactics:
1. Entitlement or "I deserve it" - taking credit for the candidate's past results.
2. Enhancement - persuasive statements that the candidate has noteworthy and even sublime qualities.
3. Self-promotion - broadcasting the candidate's abilities, skills, and knowledge.
Wait.. this sounds like tactics we all use, doesn't it?
Well, the difference is in the information we base ourselves on. In most cases, the impression that candidates try to create is based on authentic and accurate information obtained by the candidate in advance, and actually the use of tactics is a tool that allows shaping the initial impression and conveying it to the interviewer in a more marketing-oriented and pleasant way. However, people can also build the initial impression framework based on wrong and even false information, and from there create a misleading initial impression.
In a survey conducted, it was found that 44% of resumes submitted for a position will contain false representation regarding past work. Weiss, B., & Feldman, R. S. (2006).
What's the problem with a false impression? After all, many people round corners here and there..
Apart from ethical and moral reasons, deception in an interview might influence the interviewer's opinion, but the gaps can be discovered when entering the position. And from here not only was the less suitable candidate chosen for the position and organization, but the authenticity process of the interview itself was damaged and affects the next choices of that same interviewer or manager.
On the other side of the coin, the leading goal of candidates coming to a job interview is to get the job. However, not always do the skills, knowledge, and abilities of that candidate match the offered position. There will be candidates who will choose a strategy of lying or deception in order to be that "perfect candidate" and get the position at any cost.
The research by Weiss and Feldman (2006) went out and examined the question of deception in job interviews. For the research purpose, 59 people who thought they came to a job interview were examined. In half the cases, the nature of the work required technical skills and in the other half required interpersonal abilities. The subjects were asked ten standard questions and at the end were told about the experiment. The subjects watched a video that filmed their interview and testified when their statements were accurate and authentic and when they used less accurate information.
The research found that 81% of participants testified that they told at least one lie during the interview. On average, each participant told 2.19 lies during the interview. It was also found that people who applied for technical work tried to impress the interviewer with their technical knowledge, and candidates who applied for interpersonal work tried to impress with interpersonal knowledge. However, candidates lied more about technical knowledge they lacked than about interpersonal abilities.
And how is personality related? Another fascinating finding found in the research was that extroverted people tended to use more self-promotion tactics, when most of the information they based themselves on was false. This follows the research by Christoph-Brown et al. (2002) who found that extroverted people will tend to use self-promotion techniques due to their ability to speak and connect easily. Additionally, it was found that extroverted people will tend to lie more than introverted people due to the desire to "look good" and receive sympathy from others, and actually thus maintain a kind of positive image regardless of the cost.
So who tells the truth? And how can you know?
Weiss, B., & Feldman, R. S. (2006). Looking good and lying to do it: Deception as an impression management strategy in job interviews. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(4), 1070-1086.
Daniel is a graduate with a degree in Communication and Political Science from Bar-Ilan University, and is currently studying for a master's degree in Psychology at Ruppin Academic Center. Daniel writes professional articles related to the system.
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