How physical cues of interviewees in the interview process affect selection decision.

Abstract

This study examines the influence of physical cues on selection decision. Studies on decision making were thought to be only based on cognition and emotions. However, it is believed that instinct also plays an important part in the decision making process. Attractiveness, attentiveness and gesticulation were tested as physical cues on selection decision as the dependent variable. Gender, student and experience were used as control variables. This study found attentiveness and gesticulation to significantly influence selection decision at the 0.01 level of significance. The moderating effect of experience on physical cues was significant for attentiveness at the 0.1 significance level. As hypothesised, this study found that instinct plays an important role in influencing selection decision, and that interviewer characteristics only had limited effect on mitigating interviewer bias based on instinct.