Effects of an Interview Guide on the Accuracy of Ratings for Applicants with Disabilities

<p>The problem of bias in the employment interview for applicants with disabilities was addressed with research to identify if a decision aid can increase the decision making accuracy of interviewers. A survey designed to allow participants to rate applicants with five disabilities for three jobs (with three essential functions listed for each job) was used to assess rating accuracy of two groups. Participants who received the decision aid in the form of a Guide to Interviewing People with Selected Disabilities were expected to have more rating accuracy than those participants without access to the Guide. Accuracy was assessed by comparing participant ratings to target scores generated by an expert panel. Participants who received the Guide did not make more accurate ratings than the participants who completed the survey without access to the Guide, but it is likely that the results are a function of the limitations of the training rather than the Guide. Raters were significantly less accurate when rating the applicant with multiple sclerosis, as hypothesized. However, raters were also significantly less accurate for the applicant with a hearing impairment, despite their familiarity with the disability. The significantly lenient rating may be a function of the raters not considering the intense hearing requirements of the job tasks as seriously as did the experts. The practical implications for these findings are discussed with respect to interviewing applicants with disabilities.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

1998

Author dc:creator

• Mergen, Catherine Quinn Greenwald

Contributors dc:contributor

• Terry L. Dickinson
• Robert M. McIntyre
• Janis Sanchez-Hucles
• Nancy T. Tippins

• Decision-making
• Job interview
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Organizational Behavior and Theory

Statement dc:rights

• <p>In Copyright. URI: <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).</p>

Identifier

9780591815856

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:psychology_etds-1160