辯解有效嗎？談應徵者防禦型印象管理策略對面試官心理評價之影響

Does Account Work? The Effects of Applicant Defensive Impression Management Tactics on Interviewers’ Psychological Evaluations

相對於肯定型印象管理，防禦型印象管理是印象管理策略中另一個重要的面向，也是近年漸受重視的議題。但在甄選面談領域的研究相對缺乏，其有效性也未達共識。參酌相關理論，本研究試圖整合不同理論觀點，以求完整、周延地看待評價歷程，以探討應徵者防禦型印象管理之效果。由態度理論的觀點，本研究同時探討面試官面對應徵者使用防禦策略的認知歷程與情感歷程，納入知覺應徵者能力及其對應徵者的喜好程度兩大類評價，以驗證面試官解讀應徵者防禦型印象管理策略的心理歷程。依據面談文獻，本研究將應徵者防禦型印象管理策略分為道歉、開脫及合理化等三類，採三因子受試者間實驗設計進行研究。
研究結果指出，合理化策略以能力評價為主要歷程，其關係強度大於對情感評價的影響；開脫策略對能力評價的影響卻未得證；至於道歉策略，雖如預期以情感評價為主要路徑，但對喜好程度卻呈負向影響，推測可能是非口語行為的未預期效果所造成。因此，於後續收集資料中排除非口語行為做進一步驗證，結果發現，道歉策略的確能修復面試官對應徵者的喜好程度，推知非口語行為對道歉說詞的品質存在著交互效果；而開脫策略的能力修復效果依舊未得證，推測應該是其說詞內容終究未能提出正面的能力訊息，導致說服力不夠。本研究結果可供應徵者做為策略選擇的參考，亦幫助面試官瞭解自己在面談過程中的訊息解讀歷程。

Verbal self-presentation tactics comprise the central part of impression management (IM), separated as assertive IM and defensive IM. In job interview settings, assertive IM tactics were once considered as much more frequently used, relative to defensive IM tactics. However, the statistics in recent research shows that over sixty percent of applicants have used defensive IM tactics during interviews, which should not be ignored.
According to attitude theory, the researcher discusses cognitive and affective mechanisms of defensive IM tactics simultaneously. “Perceived applicants’ competence” and “liking toward applicants” are included to capture the interviewers’ cognitive and affective evaluations. Following the findings of pilot studies, the researcher adopts tripartition of defensive IM tactics: apology, excuse, and justification. A 2x2x2 between-subject experiment with video-taped design is conducted to investigate the impact of defensive IM tactics on interviewers’ psychological processes.
The results show that the main mechanism of justification lies in cognitive evaluation, however, the main mechanisms of apology and excuse are not identified as expectation. These unexpected findings may result from the actor’s nonverbal behaviors. Therefore, another sample is collected for further investigation, and the audio-taped design is used to wipe out the effect of nonverbal behaviors. It shows the influence of apology on liking is supported, though the impact of excuse on perceived competence remains unsupported. These findings provide not only further understanding of interviewers’ psychological processes, but also guidance for the applicants to choose appropriate defensive IM tactics.