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Effects of procedure and outcome accountability on interview validity
Mary D Brtek1, Stephan J Motowidlo
1Department of Management, University of Florida, USA. mbrtek@monk.aum.edu
The Journal of Applied Psychology
|March 28, 2002
Summary
Holding interviewers accountable for procedure, not outcome, improves hiring interview validity. Attentiveness to interview procedures fully explains this effect, enhancing selection accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Psychology
- Human Resource Management
- Personnel Selection
Background:
- Employment interviews are crucial for hiring decisions.
- Interview validity, the accuracy of predicting job performance, is often suboptimal.
- Accountability mechanisms may influence interviewer judgment quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of procedure accountability versus outcome accountability on interview validity.
- To determine if attentiveness mediates the relationship between accountability and interview validity.
Main Methods:
- An experiment with 338 undergraduates simulating employment interviewers.
- Crossed 2x2 design manipulating procedure and outcome accountability.
- Interviewers rated managers' leadership potential based on videotaped interviews; validity was assessed via correlation with actual job performance.
Main Results:
- Procedure accountability significantly increased interview validity.
- Outcome accountability significantly decreased interview validity.
- Participant attentiveness fully mediated the positive effect of procedure accountability on interview validity.
Conclusions:
- Focusing interviewer accountability on adherence to procedure enhances selection accuracy.
- Holding interviewers accountable for outcomes may undermine interview validity.
- Interviewer attentiveness is a key mechanism through which procedure accountability improves hiring decisions.