Journal of Applied Psychology 1985, Vol. 70, No. 4, 729-736 Copyright 1985 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0021-9010/85/100.75 Nonverbal Cues in the Employment Interview: Links Between Applicant Qualities and Interviewer Judgments Robert Gifford, Cheuk Fan Ng, and Margaret Wilkinson University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada The role of nonverbal behavior in the employment interview inference process was investigated using a modified Brunswik lens model. Thirty-four job interviews for an actual research assistant position were conducted and videotaped. Job applicants' self-appraised motivation to work and social skill were assessed, and their nonverbal behaviors during the interview were scored. Eighteen judges with training and several years' experience in employment interviewing watched the videotaped interviews and rated the applicants on their motivation, social skill, and "hireability." Social skill was found to be more accurately inferred by the judges as a group than was motivation to work. Applicants' social skill was apparently transmitted to the judges via three nonverbal cues. In contrast, there was a lack of correspondence between cues correlated with applicants' self- appraised motivation to work and those used by judges in making their attributions. Implications for employment interview training are discussed. Not much empirical evidence supports the validity of the employment interview as a means of personnel selection (Ulrich & Trumbo, 1965). However, as the interview is considered by most employers to be an im- portant part of the hiring process, investigators have examined various components of the interview process to discover what distin- guishes an unsuccessful interview from a successful interview. The applicant's nonver- bal behaviors are often assumed by interview- ers to provide useful information that is not likely to be expressed verbally (Schlenker, 1980). Recent research has demonstrated the im- portance of nonverbal behaviors in the inter- view situation (Edinger & Patterson, 1983). Unfortunately, most previous research focuses on only half the role of nonverbal behaviors— connections between the job applicant's be- havior and the interviewer's attributions. The present study investigates the full role of nonverbal behaviors in job interviews, that is, the connections between the applicant's job-related qualities and nonverbal behaviors, We are grateful to Lurene Haines and Julie Macdonald for help in various phases of this study. Address correspondence to Robert Gifford, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 2Y2. as well as connections between nonverbal behaviors and interviewer judgments. Interviewer Judgments Several studies have examined the effects of the applicant's nonverbal behaviors on the interviewer's impression and hiring decision. The pattern of results suggests that increased eye contact, smiling, gestures, and head nods by an applicant produce favorable outcomes (Edinger & Patterson, 1983). For example, in McGovern's (1976) study, only applicants who displayed such nonverbal behaviors as above-average amount of eye contact, high energy level, speech fluency, and voice mod- ulation were evaluated as worth seeing for a second interview. In Amalfitano and Kalt's (1977) study, applicants who engaged in more eye contact were judged more alert, assertive, dependable, confident, responsible, and as having more initiative. Applicants rated highly on these attributes were also evaluated most likely to be hired. Young and Beier (1977) and Forbes and Jackson (1980) also snowed that applicants were most favorably rated when they engaged in more eye contact, smiling, and head movement. Problems With Previous Research Two major problems with research into the role of nonverbal behaviors in the em- 729