This dissertation applied a schematic view of dispositional attribution to the employment selection process. The study examined the process by which employment interviewers utilize various informational cues when forming impressions of job applicants. Although most existing research suggests that negative informational cues have a significantly greater influence on impression formation than do positive informational cues, this study examined differences among schemas used by potential employers which may lead to differences in the rules of inference utilized when making causal attributions about applicants. / Theory and research in the areas of the employment interview, attribution theory, and schema offer insights into how employment interviewers utilize positive and negative informational cues about job applicants in the selection process. Based on these insights, a schema model of dispositional attribution in the employment selection process was developed and tested. The model suggested that it is the particular trait dimension being judged--not the negativity of the cue--that influences which informational cues are considered to be the most diagnostic about an applicant. / The sample used to examine the proposed model consisted of 100 employment interviewers from both the public and private sector. The results provided empirical evidence which suggests that positive informational cues may, under certain conditions, be more influential in impression formation than negative informational cues. Specifically, employment interviewers appear to be more influenced by positive information which attests to an applicant's ability rather than negative information. Although interviewers appear to be more tolerant of negative information concerning an applicant's ability-related traits, they are less tolerant of negative information concerning an applicant's morality-related traits. As such, positive-ability and negative-morality information about a job applicant are more influential in impression formation. / Moreover, the results suggest that positive-ability and negative-morality information about an applicant are more likely to be utilized by the employment interviewer in the selection decision than are negative-ability and positive-morality information. Both theoretical and practical implications of the current research findings are presented. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 1031. / Major Professor: Pamela L. Perrewe. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78515 |
| Contributors | Morton, Karen Sue., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 177 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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