Just Sit Back and Watch: Large Disparities between Video and Face-to-face Interview Observers in Applicant Ratings

Video-mediated communication (VMC) tools such as Zoom are rapidly being adopted in distance education, telehealth, and for job-related purposes like meetings and interviews. However, how interactions may differ between VMC and face-to-face (FTF) communication is not yet fully understood. In particular, much of the existing literature has explicitly focused on how VMC affects interdependent communication exchange (active) rather than mere observation (passive), and what research does exist on passive observation has focused on recorded (asynchronous) VMC rather than live (synchronous) interactions. Using a mock interview paradigm, we directly compared differences in perceptions of a job applicant between ostensibly synchronous VMC passive and FTF passive participants. VMC passive participants rated the job applicant as less likeable, less hirable, and as having less agency than did FTF passive participants. These large effects (> 1 SD) were partially mediated by lower self-reported attention for VMC participants. These results are discussed in terms of their basic and applied implications for VMC and perceptions of others.