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Recruiting source effects: A test of two alternative explanations
Author(s) -
BREAUGH JAMES A.,
MANN REBECCA B.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of occupational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 2044-8325
pISSN - 0305-8107
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8325.1984.tb00167.x
Subject(s) - newspaper , psychology , social psychology , test (biology) , sample (material) , empirical research , field (mathematics) , realism , variables , political science , epistemology , law , statistics , paleontology , philosophy , chemistry , pure mathematics , biology , mathematics , chromatography
This field study examined two alternative explanations for recruitment source effects which have been consistently reported in previous studies. For this sample of 98 social service workers, the ‘ realism’ explanation for source differences received more empirical support than the ‘ individual difference ’ explanation. Employee referrals were found to have more realistic expectations than individuals who responded to newspaper ads or directly applied to the organization. In addition, recruitment source was found to be related to employee performance and involuntary turnover. The authors suggest an, as yet, unexamined individual difference variable (motivation) as a possible explanation for the unexpected performance findings.