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When Interviewers Desire Accurate Impressions: The Effects of Notetaking on the Influence of Expectations 1
Author(s) -
Biesanz Jeremy C.,
Neuberg Steven L.,
Judice T. Nicole,
Smith Dylan M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb00124.x
Subject(s) - psychology , interview , cognition , cognitive bias , social psychology , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , political science , law
The present study explored the possibility that notetaking would help accuracy‐minded interviewers to avoid cognitive expectation biases. Interviewers in simulated employment interviews were given bogus pre‐interview expectations about their applicants and were either encouraged or not encouraged to take extensive notes. Consistent with past research on accuracy‐motivated interviewers, both notetaking and non‐notetaking interviewers avoided creating self‐fulfilling prophecies. Of central interest, notetaking reduced the cognitive biasing effect of negative expectations on interviewers' overall impressions of their applicants, but failed to reduce cognitive bias in interviewers' evaluations of expectation‐specific applicant characteristics. In conjunction with the motivation to form accurate impressions, notetaking can help to reduce the impact of erroneous pre‐interview expectations in interviewer final evaluations.