The effect of applicant political skill on the race dissimilarity‐recruiter recommendations relationship

• Date: 01 July 2017
• Author: Darren C. Treadway,Brooke A. Gazdag,Stephanie R. Seitz,Jacob W. Breland,Kathi J. Lovelace
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12157
• Published date: 01 July 2017

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The effect of applicant political skill on the race

dissimilarity‐recruiter recommendations

relationship

Jacob W. Breland

1

|Stephanie R. Seitz

2

|Darren C. Treadway

3

|

Kathi J. Lovelace

4

|Brooke A. Gazdag

5

1

University of Southern Mississippi

2

California State University, East Bay

3

University at Buffalo, The State University of

New York

4

Menlo College

5

Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München

Correspondence

Jacob W. Breland, Department of

Management & International Business,

College of Business, University of Southern

Mississippi, 730 East Beach Boulevard,

Long Beach, MS 39560, USA.

Email: jacob.breland@usm.edu

Funding information

College of Business at the University of

Southern Mississippi

Abstract

The importance of recruiting minority candidates is increasing due

to legal and strategic concerns. Although the majority of research

in the area investigating race dissimilarity has been found to have

significant negative effects on interviewing outcomes, the results

have been inconsistent. Integrating our model into that proposed

by Huffcutt, we attempt to better understand some of these

inconsistencies by introducing political influence compatibility as a

mediator between race dissimilarity and recruiter hiring recommen-

dations. We further integrate political skill as a moderator to neu-

tralise the negative impact of being racially dissimilar on political

influence compatibility. The model was tested using data collected

from actual interviews conducted in unstructured settings, and sup-

port was found for the hypotheses.

KEYWORDS

employment interview, political skill,race dissimilarity

1|INTRODUCTION

The recruitment of minority candidates fulfills many organisational interests, including compliance with legal man-

dates, efforts to manage labour shortages, and fostering images of the employer as being fair and inclusive (McKay

& Avery, 2005). However, there is an abundance of research indicating that racially dissimilar applicants may be at

a disadvantage (Levashina, Hartwell, Morgeson, & Campion, 2014). This disadvantage may be attributed to the

increased permeation of recruiter personal biases and stereotypes toward racially dissimilar others due to the short

duration inherent in the interviewing process (Goldberg, 2003). Thus, as the workforce becomes increasingly diverse,

understanding the effects of racial dissimilarity within the interviewing context is especially important (Toossi, 2002)

given the potentialimpact on talent acquisition and retention and concernsof legal compliance (McKay & Avery, 2005).

Given that race is socially constructed (Nkomo, 1992), an applicant's ability to manage others' perceptions of their

identity would seem particularly relevant in the interviewing context. Human resource decisions are often not based

on logics of rationality but are often more strongly influenced by the social context in which personal biases, divergent

Received: 17 September 2013 Revised: 19 April 2017 Accepted: 20 April 2017

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12157

350 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Hum Resour Manag J. 2017;27:350–365.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj

interest, and perceptions of “fit”are more important than objective qualifications (Judge & Ferris, 1992). In general,

applicants that leverage image creation tactics during the interview increase their probability of a favourable interview

outcome from 30% to 71% (Levashina & Campion, 2007). Huffcutt (2011) asserted that this is a compelling direction

for research because “empirical evidence for social skills in relation to interview ratings is extremely limited”(p. 70).

To address this, we contend that applicant political skill, a social effectiveness construct, may be especially important

in moderating the potential negative effects of applicant racial dissimilarity on recruiter hiring recommendations.

Additionally, the role of fit has also been incorporated into our research model.

Fit has been argued conceptually (Ferris & Judge, 1991; Judge & Ferris, 1992) and demonstrated empirically (e.g.,

Cable & Judge, 1997; Gilmore, Stevens, Harrell‐Cook, & Ferris, 1999; Higgins & Judge, 2004) as having a mediating

role within the interviewing context. However, research to date has mostly considered fit in a general sense as

opposed to specific facets. To address this shortcoming, we adopt the perspective of Ferris, Russ, and Fandt (1989)

that one aspect of fit that may be important in the interviewing context is that of political compatibility. Specifically,

we position political influence compatibility (PIC) as mediating the moderating effect of racial dissimilarity and

applicant political skill on recruiter recommendations. The model guiding our research is show in Figure 1.

The paper will proceed by first reviewing the literature on the employment interview with a particular focus on

the role of interviewer evaluations and recommendations. Discussions of the effects of race dissimilarity in this con-

text are explored. Following this is an expanded discussion of the role of fit in the interviewing context, focusing spe-

cifically on PIC. At the conclusion of this section, we offer our first hypothesis that PIC acts as mediator of the

relationship between race dissimilarity and hiring recommendations. We then present a discussion of the role of polit-

ical skill whereby applicant political skill is hypothesised as having a mitigating effect on the negative indirect relation-

ship between race dissimilarity and recruiter hiring recommendations.

2|EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS AND INTERVIEW EVALUATIONS

The employment interview allows recruiters and applicants the opportunity to interact interpersonally “to determine

their level of fit with the other”(Parsons, Cable, & Liden, 1999, p. 126) in an effort to make employment decisions. It is

a social process in which the exchange of information is subverted by the social dynamics inherent in the process

(Judge, Cable, & Higgins, 2000). Recruiters may use themselves as a comparative other and form their assessments

on the basis of the extent to which they view applicants as similar to themselves (Anderson & Shackleton, 1990). Such

perceptions of congruence then translate into hiring recommendations, often regardless of any particular objective

requirement (Cable & Judge, 1997).

Perceptions of similarity and hiring recommendations are often made based on demographic characteristics (Tsui

& O'Reilly, 1989). Because information is limited in the interview, all available data are used to form impressions.

Demographic characteristics are readily available (Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998) and may serve as a proxy for recruiters

to assess underlying, deep‐level attributes (Milliken & Martins, 1996). A large body of empirical research has

FIGURE 1 Conceptual model. PIC = political influence compatibility

BRELAND ET AL.351

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