The Effect of Organizational Culture on Faking in the Job Interview

Abstract

Deceptive impression management (i.e., faking) may alter interviewers’ perceptions of applicants’ qualifications and, consequently, decrease the predictive validity of the job interview. In examining faking antecedents, research has given little attention to situational variables. Using a between-subjects experiment, this research addressed that gap by examining whether organizational culture impacted both the extent to which applicants faked and the manner in which they faked during a job interview. Analyses of variance revealed that organizational culture did not affect the extent to which applicants faked. However, when taking into account applicants’ perceptions of the ideal candidate, organizational culture was found to indirectly impact the manner in which applicants faked their personality (agreeableness and honesty-humility). Overall, the findings suggest that applicants may be able to fake their personality traits during job interviews to increase their person–organization fit.