Key result
Face-to-face interviews linked to increased skin conductance and central theta power versus remote interviews.
Why the study?
Despite the acceleration of remote communication, little to no research considering neurocognitive and emotional systems had investigated job interviews.
Does face-to-face job interviewing compared to remote interviewing alter emotional and cognitive processes in candidates and recruiters?
Observational
Does face-to-face job interviewing compared to remote interviewing alter emotional and cognitive processes in candidates and recruiters?
Face-to-face job interviews elicit different neurocognitive and emotional responses compared to remote interviews, including increased physiological arousal and central theta power.
Face-to-face interviews may heighten candidate arousal; this Level 5 finding leaves open effects on hiring equity and outcomes.
In the last decades, improving remote communications in companies has been a compelling issue. With the outspread of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, this phenomenon has undergone an acceleration. Despite this, little to no research, considering neurocognitive and emotional systems, was conducted on job interviews, a critical organizational phase that significantly contributes to a company's long-term success. In this study, we aimed at exploring the emotional and cognitive processes related to different phases of a job interview (introductory, attitudinal, technical, and conclusion), when considering two conditions: face-to-face and remote, by simultaneously gathering EEG (frequency bands: alpha, beta, delta, and theta) and autonomic data (skin-conductance-level, SCL, skin-conductance-response, SCR, and heart rate, HR) in both candidates and recruiters. Data highlighted a generalized alpha desynchronization during the job interview interaction. Recruiters showed increased frontal theta activity, which is connected to socio-emotional situations and emotional processing. In addition, results showed how face-to-face condition is related to increased SCL and theta power in the central brain area, associated with learning processes, via the midbrain dopamine system and the anterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, we found higher HR in the candidates. The present results call to reexamine the impact of information-technology on the organization, opening up to translational opportunities.
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Balconi et al. (2022) conducted an observational in Job interviews. Face-to-face job interviews vs. Remote job interviews was evaluated on EEG (alpha, beta, delta, theta) and autonomic data (SCL, SCR, HR). Face-to-face job interviews were associated with increased skin conductance level and central theta power compared to remote interviews, while candidates exhibited higher heart rates overall.
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