Applicants' Self‐presentational Behavior across Cultures: Less self‐presentation in Switzerland and Iceland than in the United States

• Published in: International Journal of Selection and Assessment
• Main Authors: König, Cornelius J., Hafsteinsson, Leifur G., Jansen, Anne, Stadelmann, Eveline H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2011
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2011.00562.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1468-2389.2011.00562.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2011.00562.x

Do US findings on applicants' self‐presentational behavior generalize to other countries? We argue that applicants in some countries are less motivated to present themselves favorably than applicants in others because countries vary in their unemployment rate (leading to differences in competition between job applicants) and their endorsement of modesty values, influencing their beliefs regarding self‐presentation. Using the randomized response technique, we obtained prevalence data on applicants' self‐presentational behavior from Iceland and S witzerland and compared them with previously published US results. The prevalence rates of self‐presentational behavior were fairly comparable in Iceland and S witzerland but significantly lower than in the United States. These results caution against using the same hiring strategy for all applicants from different cultures.