Abstract Job interviews frequently involve extended interpersonal exchanges that blur the boundaries between professional and personal domains. Despite their salience, research offers limited insight into how candidates experience these encounters and how these experiences influence recruitment outcomes. Drawing from Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, we conduct two studies to introduce and validate the Pressure to Disclose Personal Information (PDPI) scale, which captures job candidates’ perceived compulsion to reveal personal or identity-relevant information unrelated to job performance. Study 1 uses multilevel field data from academic job interviews to examine how candidates’ perceived PDPI during site visits predicts organizational attraction, likelihood of accepting an offer, and intentions to recommend the organization to others one month later. Building on this, study 2 replicates these patterns using a strengthened PDPI measure in a broader sample of professionals across diverse industries. Further, a significant interaction emerged between PDPI and gender, such that PDPI more strongly undermined women’s attraction to the organization as compared to men. Collectively, these insights position PDPI as a consequential yet overlooked aspect of recruitment and demonstrate that protecting candidates’ privacy boundaries is not only a theoretical imperative but is also essential for attracting and retaining top talent.
Nag et al. (Tue,) studied this question.