THE INTERVIEWER AS HYPOTHESIS TESTER: THE EFFECTS OF IMPRESSIONS OF AN APPLICANT ON INTERVIEWER QUESTIONING STRATEGY

Recent findings in the impression formation literature suggest that individuals seek evidence to confirm initial hypotheses, or preconceptions, which they form about other people prior to interaction, and that seeking confirmatory evidence makes it likely that a hypothesis will be confirmed (Snyder and Swann, 1978). Snyder and Swann suggest that the employment interview is one context in which this process can be expected to operate. Four studies are reported which examine the generalizability of these findings to the employment interview. Consistent use of confirmatory hypothesis testing strategies was not found when experienced interviewers, rather than college students, were used as subjects, nor when the study was set specifically in an employment interview setting, nor when hypotheses about characteristics other than those examined by Snyder and Swann were studied.