Realistic Job Previews: Can a Procedure to Reduce Turnover Also Influence the Relationship Between Abilities and Performance?

The impact of realistic job previews (RJP's) as a moderator of the ability‐performance relationship is evaluated. First, the research evidence from experimental studies in business, education, and hospital organizations indicates that RJP's have no impact on either the level of job performance or the ability‐performance relationship. The primary reason for this is that the RJP concerns the matching of human needs to organizational climate, and thus is designed to influence job satisfaction and voluntary turnover rather than job performance. Second, the potential impact of RJP's on the ability‐performance relationship is the subject of speculation.