Factors Shaping Candidates’ Job Acceptance Intentions in Asynchronous Video Interviews

The first paper includes three experimental studies involving a design that mirrors a real-world context: Participants had to log in into a hiring platform and complete an asynchronous video interview. Specifically, we created situations in which job applicants’ assessments were administered by different evaluations agents (i.e., human decision-makers or AI-based tools). Study 1 shows that the job applicants perceived the AI evaluation agent (vs. a human) as less trustworthy, which in turn reduced their job acceptance intentions, an important hiring outcome which reflects whether organizations ultimately address their labor needs (Harold et al., 2016). Further, building on attachment theory, we showed that the effect of AI usage on trust and job acceptance intentions in asynchronous video interviews is contingent upon job applicants’ attachment style, an individual trait which reflects how people represent themselves and other people based on their formative experiences with important others (Study 2) (Bowlby, 2008; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2019). Finally, we tested one explanatory mechanism for how attachment style shapes trust, finding that perceptions of the AI agent’s ability to parse unique skills are an antecedent of job applicants' low trust toward the AI (Study 3). Overall, this work extends our understanding of the individual differences moderating the way job applicants evaluate AI, reveals a psychological mechanism through which trust affects job acceptance intentions, and provides actionable insights for hiring organizations willing to integrate AI into their hiring practices. The second paper features one field and three controlled experiments to investigate the psychological drivers shaping applicants’ job offer acceptance with AVIs (vs. face-to-face job interviews). Hence, while in the first paper we manipulated the type of evaluation agent in job interview, in the second paper we manipulated the type of interview itself. Specifically, Study 1 examined in the field whether using an AVI (vs. face-to-face) job interview affects job acceptance intentions, and demonstrates that job applicants show lower job acceptance intentions toward AVIs (vs. face-to-face) job interviews. Study 2 investigates self-disclosure, defined as the verbal behavior through which individuals intentionally communicate private information about themselves (Huaman-Ramirez et al., 2022; pp. 464), as an explanatory mechanism for applicants’ low job acceptance intentions towards AVIs. The results show that job applicants exhibit lower willingness to self-disclose with AVIs, which in turn reduced their job acceptance intentions. Further, using a serial mediation model, Study 3 tested one explanatory mechanism for how AVI affects self-disclosure, finding that perceived psychological comfort is an antecedent of job applicants’ low self-disclosure. Finally, study 4 shows that attachment style can affect job applicants’ psychological comfort, self-disclosure, and job acceptance intentions. Together, these studies enrich knowledge on the explanatory mechanisms through which AVI affects job acceptance intentions, and the understanding of the individual differences moderating applicants’ experience of AVI. By doing so, this work provides useful guidelines for hiring managers willing to integrate AVI into hiring practices. The third paper relies on three controlled experiments to explore the role of contextual factors (i.e., job characteristics) in shaping applicants’ job offer acceptance with AVIs (vs. face-to-face job interviews). Study 1 demonstrates that job applicants show lower job acceptance intentions toward AVIs (vs. face-to-face) job interviews when applying for soft skills-based jobs (i.e., non-technical and involving interpersonal abilities) versus hard skills-based jobs (i.e., requiring technical expertise). Study 2 shows that this effect stems from applicants’ perceived congruence between the interview characteristics and those of jobs to which applicants are applying for. Finally, Study 3 extends these results by showing that the congruence between the soft skills-based job characteristics and the AVI characteristics decreases applicants’ mental imagery, a cognitive simulation of the fit between the job characteristics and interview type (de Visser-Amundson et al., 2021; DeRosia & Elder, 2019), which in turn reduces their job acceptance intentions. Specifically, applicants found the association between the AVI features (i.e., asynchronicity) and soft skills-based job, which involves interpersonal skills, as less imagery-evocative, thereby reporting lower job acceptance intentions. Overall, this research illuminates how different contextual and psychological factors shape acceptance of AVI, and support hiring managers in evaluating “when” and “how” to integrate AVIs into their hiring practices.