SOCIAL RULES AND ATTRIBUTIONS IN THE PERSONNEL-SELECTION INTERVIEW

The study investigated the social rules applicable to selection interv iews, and the attributions ions made by interviewers in response to ru le-breaking behaviours by candidates. Sixty personnel specialists (31 males and 29 females) participated in the main study which examined th eir perceptions of social rules and attributions about rule breaking i n their work experience. They listened to audiotapes of actual selecti on interviews, and made judgments about hireability communication comp etence, and specific social rules. Results indicated that interview ru les could be categorized into two groups: specific interview presentat ion skills and general interpersonal competence. While situational att ributions were more salient in explaining the breaking of general inte rpersonal competence rules, internal attributions (ability, effort) we re more salient explanations for the breaking of more specific intervi ew rules (with the exception of the preparation rule where lack of eff ort was the most likely explanation for rule breaking). Candidates pre viously judged as competent communicators were rated more favourably o n both global and specific measures of rule-following competence, as w ell as on hireability. The theoretical and practical implications of c ombining social rules and attribution theory in the study of selection interviews are discussed.