ABSTRACT

Job applicants’ self-presentation in their profiles on professional networking services (PNS), such as LinkedIn, may be crucial for the evaluation of their expertise for a job. Importantly, on PNS profiles, self-generated picture-based and text-based cues are shown together, and both may influence expertise evaluations. In three experiments, we systematically analyzed impression formation in the context of PNS profiles by investigating the influence of self-generated textual and pictorial cues on job applicants’ expertise evaluations. Student participants were presented with different PNS profiles that were systematically varied by the level of expertise (high vs. medium vs. low) conveyed through text (i.e., a description of experience and education) and pictures (i.e., a photo of the profile owner vs. a placeholder). Our results revealed a textual primacy in expertise evaluations of PNS profiles, as text expertise was crucial, independent of picture expertise. However, picture expertise was particularly important in cases of high text expertise. Placeholders always resulted in more negative judgments than high-expertise pictures and sometimes even had the same effect as low-expertise pictures. Finally, we discuss implications for theory building on impression formation and practical consequences for self-presentation in PNS.

摘要

求职者在他们的专业网络服务 (PNS) 的个人资料中的自我介绍，例如 LinkedIn，对于评估他们的工作专业知识可能是至关重要的。重要的是，在 PNS 配置文件中，自我生成的基于图片和基于文本的提示一起显示，并且两者都可能影响专业评估。在三个实验中，我们通过调查自我生成的文本和图片线索对求职者专业知识评估的影响，系统地分析了 PNS 配置文件背景下的印象形成。向学生参与者展示了不同的 PNS 个人资料，这些个人资料根据通过文本（即经验和教育的描述）和图片（即个人资料所有者的照片）传达的专业水平（高、中、低）系统地变化与占位符）。我们的结果表明，在 PNS 配置文件的专业评估中文本优先，因为文本专业知识至关重要，独立于图片专业知识。然而，图片专业知识在高文本专业知识的情况下尤为重要。占位符总是导致比高专业图片更多的负面判断，有时甚至与低专业图片具有相同的效果。最后，我们讨论了建立在印象形成和 PNS 中自我展示的实际后果的理论的意义。占位符总是导致比高专业图片更多的负面判断，有时甚至与低专业图片具有相同的效果。最后，我们讨论了建立在印象形成和 PNS 中自我展示的实际后果的理论的意义。占位符总是导致比高专业图片更多的负面判断，有时甚至与低专业图片具有相同的效果。最后，我们讨论了建立在印象形成和 PNS 中自我展示的实际后果的理论的意义。