Interviewee Selection Test and Evaluator Assessments of General Mental Ability, Emotional Intelligence and Extraversion: Relationships with Structured Behavioral and Situational Interview Performance

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine antecedents of interview performance commonly measured via two divergent methods; selection tests and evaluator assessments. General mental ability (GMA), emotional intelligence (EI), and extraversion have been largely studied in isolation. This study evaluates the relative strength of these traits across methods and tests whether selection test and evaluator-assessed traits interact to further enhance the prediction of interview performance. 81 interviewees were asked to complete traditional selection tests of GMA, EI, extraversion, and a video-recorded structured behavioral and situational job interview. The traits, behavioral, and situational interview performance were then evaluated with three independent sets of raters. Regression analysis was used to investigate the extent that these traits predicted structured interview performance. Results indicate that each trait was a strong predictor of interview performance, but results differed based on the method of measurement and the type of structured interview assessed. Further, evaluator perceptions related to interview performance more strongly than did selection tests. Finally, evaluator assessments of each trait interacted with its respective selection test counterpart to further enhance the prediction of interview performance. This improves our understanding of how applicant traits impact hiring decisions. This is the first study to directly compare tested versus others’ ratings of interviewee GMA, EI, and extraversion as predictors of interview performance.