Applicant Reactions to Automated Assessments: Applicant Quality as a Moderator

As artificial intelligence has become more common in organizational use, research has begun to examine the psychological impacts of this progression. Organizations have utilized AI to assist with their selection processes. In general, it has been demonstrated that applicants react negatively to these processes. However, little work has been done to examine moderating variables in this relationship. The aim of this study is to examine how the quality of an applicant may impact the applicant’s reactions to automation. It was predicted that due to the increased self-efficacy of higher-quality applicants, these individuals would be more confident in their performance in the selection processes and therefore would react less negatively to the use of automation. Participants viewed a randomly assigned job description and were then told they would either engage in automated or traditional selection processes. Reaction data was then collected. Moderation analyses were conducted revealing conscientiousness, extraversion, race, and age to improve reactions. Self-reported intelligence and high school GPA were found to worsen reactions.<p></p>