Economic predictors of differences in interview faking between countries: 
Economic inequality matters, not the state of economy

König, Cornelius J.; Langer, Markus; Fell, Clemens B.; Pathak, Raghuvar Dutt; Bajwa, Nida ul Habib; Derous, Eva; Geißler, Sanja M.; Hirose, Shinichi; Hülsheger, Ute; Javakhishvili, Nino; Junges, Nilve; Knudsen, Birgit; Lee, Michael S. W.; Mariani, Marco G.; Nag, Gopal C.; Petrescu, Claudia; Robie, Chet; Rohorua, Halahingano; Sammel, Lavinia D.; Schichtel, Désirée; Titov, Sergei; Todadze, Ketevan; von Lautz, Alexander H.; Ziem, Martina

doi:10.1111/apps.12278

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Economic predictors of differences in interview faking between countries: Economic inequality matters, not the state of economy

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Knudsen, Birgit
Neurobiology of Language Department, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

König, C. J., Langer, M., Fell, C. B., Pathak, R. D., Bajwa, N. u. H., Derous, E., et al. (2020). Economic predictors of differences in interview faking between countries: Economic inequality matters, not the state of economy. Applied Psychology. doi:10.1111/apps.12278.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0006-9212-0

Abstract

Many companies recruit employees from different parts of the globe, and faking behavior by
potential employees is a ubiquitous phenomenon. It seems that applicants from some
countries are more prone to faking compared to others, but the reasons for these differences
are largely unexplored. This study relates country-level economic variables to faking
behavior in hiring processes. In a cross-national study across 20 countries, participants (N =
3839) reported their faking behavior in their last job interview. This study used the random
response technique (RRT) to ensure participants anonymity and to foster honest answers
regarding faking behavior. Results indicate that general economic indicators (gross domestic
product per capita [GDP] and unemployment rate) show negligible correlations with faking
across the countries, whereas economic inequality is positively related to the extent of
applicant faking to a substantial extent. These findings imply that people are sensitive to
inequality within countries and that inequality relates to faking, because inequality might
actuate other psychological processes (e.g., envy) which in turn increase the probability for
unethical behavior in many forms.