Job seekers' attitudes toward cybervetting: Scale development, validation, and platform comparison

The present research describes the development and validation of a measure of job seekers' attitudes toward cybervetting (ATC). Study 1 involved a sample of participants completing an initial pool of items focusing on one platform (i.e., Facebook) and conducting an exploratory factor analysis. Study 2 included a confirmatory factor analysis and an exploratory structural equation model to establish convergent and discriminant validity. Results of both studies confirmed that the hypothesized three‐factor structure (perceived justice, privacy invasion, and face validity) provided a good fit to the data, explained over 67% of total variance, with all three factors demonstrating high internal consistencies. Study 3 examined the measurement equivalence of the ATC measure, and demonstrated its factor structure and reliability, across four social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram). Comparing applicants' attitudes across platforms showed significantly more favorable perceptions toward LinkedIn‐based cybervetting than for the other three platforms.