Psychological Mechanisms in Realistic Job Previews RJPs

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Psychological Mechanisms in Realistic Job
Previews (RJPs)

• Margit Szostak
• Sarah Lodi

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Definition

• Realistic Job Previews (RJP) are
• any method an agency or business uses to help
  prospective employees get a balanced picture of
  the positive and negative aspects of work they
  will be doing and the organizational climate,
  prior to the offer of a position

Definition
(ONell et al., 1)
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Ideal Situation

• RJPs are most effective when the job applicant
• Can be selective about accepting a job offer,
• Has unrealistic job expectations, and/or
• Would have difficulty coping with job demands
  without a RJP
• RJPs are less effective when job applicants
• Will under-go extensive training before actually
  being exposed to real job environment since the
  training serves as a form of job initiation
• Have simple, repetitive jobs

Ideal Situation
(Dean, 1984) (Adeyemi-Bello, 1995)
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An Example
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Overview

• Some theoretical explanations of RJP functioning
  are
• Ability to Cope
• Air of Honesty
• Met Expectations
• Self-Selection
• Additional Factors

Mechanisms
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Ability to Cope

• Problems to be faced on the job, are dealt with
  as they arise
• Forewarned
• Pre-rehearse

Mechanisms
(Breaugh, 1983)
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Ability to Cope

• Types of Coping Mechanisms
• Problem focused coping
• Emotion-focused coping
• work of worry principle

Mechanisms
(Hom, 1999)
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Air of Honesty

• Credibility of RJP source
• Three factors that determine source credibility
• perceived expertise
• a trust
• liking

Mechanisms
(Meglino, 1988) (Mirvis, 1989) (Hovland, 1953)
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Met Expectations

• Lower expectations are more likely to be
  congruent with job realities
• Employees are less likely to leave their
  organization when their expectations are met

Mechanisms
(Breaugh, 1983) (Irving, 1999)
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Self-Selection

• Applicants will be better able to make informed
  decisions about which job opportunities to peruse
• Those who find context described by the RJP to be
  unacceptable will self-select out

Mechanisms
(Bretz, 1998)
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Additional Factors

• Job satisfaction may implicate other interviewing
  mechanisms, such as
• Delayed self-selection
• Cognitive dissonance
• Psychological contracts

Additional Factors
(Hom, 1999)
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Recipient Characteristics

• Recipient characteristics are the
• Emotional
• Mental
• Psychological
• One or a combination of these factors may hinder
  or enhance an individual's ability to
• Hear
• Comprehend
• Accept
• Retain

Recipient Characteristics
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Further Considerations

• If job applicant had no other job prospects,
  self-selection on the part of the applicant
  following an RJP would be unlikely
• With regards to Met expectations
• Uncommon situations in which job applicants
  possess unrealistically low job expectations

Further Considerations
(Wanous, 1980) (Breaugh, 1983)
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Summary

• Rather than selling the organization, realistic
  recruitment presents outsiders with all pertinent
  information without distortion
• The major psychological mechanisms affecting the
  candidate of an RJP are
• Ability to Cope
• Air of Honesty
• Met-Expectations
• Self-Selection

Summary
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Thank you !

• Any Questions?

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Resources

• Adeyemi-Bello, T., Mulvaney, W. (1995). The
  Development and Administration of Realistic Job
  Previews. Electronic Version Equal
  Opportunities International, 14(5), 1-7.
• Breaugh, J.A. (1983). Realistic Job Previews A
  Critical Appraisal and Future Research
  Directions. Electronic Version Academy of
  Management Review, 8 (4), 612-619.
• Bretz, R.D., Judge, T.A. (1998). Realistic Job
  Previews A Test of the Adverse Self-Selection
  Hypothesis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2),
  330-337.
• Buckley, MR, Fedor, D.B, Carraher, S.M., Frink,
  D.D., Marvin, D. (1997). The Ethical Imperative
  to Provide Recruits Realistic Job Previews.
  Electronic Version Journal of Management
  Issues, 9(4), 468-485.
• Buda, R. (2003, June). The Interactive Effect of
  Message Framing, Presentation Order, and Source
  Credibility on Recruitment Practices. Electronic
  Version International Journal of Management, 20
  (2), 156-164.
• Hom, P.W., Griffeth, R.W., Palich, L.E., Bracker,
  J.S. (1999). Revisiting Met Expectations as a
  Reason why Realistic Job Previews Work. Personnel
  Psychology, 52, 97-110.
• Irving, P.G., Meyer, J. (1999). On Using Residual
  Difference Score in the Measurement of
  Congruence The Case of Met Expectations
  Research. Personal Psychology, 52, 85-95.
• Meglino, B., DeNisi, A., Youngblood, S.,
  Williams, K., (1988). Effects of Realistic Job
  Previews A Comparison Using an Enhancement and a
  Reduction Preview. Journal of Applied Psychology,
  73(2), 259-266.
• Moskowitz, R. (1999). It Pays to Tell the Truth
  Realistic Job Previews. Retrieved January 18,
  2005 from http//www.advantagehiring.com/newslette
  r/n99Q4_truth.htm
• ONell, S., Larson, S., Hewitt, A., Sauer, J.
  (2001) RJP Overview. Retrieved January 18, 2005
  from http//rtc.umn.edu/pdf/rjp.pdf
• Robinson, S.L. Rousseau, D.M. (1994). Violating
  the Psychological Contract Not the Exception but
  the Norm. Electronic Version Journal of
  OrganizationalBehavior, 15 (3), 245.
• Sutton, G. Griffin, M.A. (2004). Integrating
  Expectations, Experiences, and Psychological
  Contract Violations A Longitudinal Study of New
  Professionals. Electronic Version Journal of
  Occupational and Organizational Psychology, ISSN
  09631798, 498.