First Impressions Versus Good Impressions: The Effect of Self-Regulation on Interview Evaluations

Abstract Self-regulation may interfere with the ability to fully use situational information to form impressions of others. The demands posed by self-regulation were studied in a job interview situation. In the context of a simulated job interview, participants in the high cognitive load condition (interviewers) were less able to correct their initial characterizations of a job applicant with situational information than participants in the low cognitive load condition (observers). Results are discussed in terms of the person-perception literature and how cognitive load effects could be minimized to increase the comprehensiveness of interviewer assessments.