An Applicant's Nonverbal Behavior and Student-Evaluators' Judgments in a Structured Interview Setting
This study examined the effects of 5–6 min. of an applicant's nonverbal videotaped behavior on 78 student-evaluators' judgments in a simulated, structured loan interview. Three objective levels of the role-playing graduate student's suitability as an applicant (high, average, or low financial resources) and two levels of nonverbal “enthusiasm” (quantified as high or low amounts of eye contact, gesturing, smiling, and appropriate tone of voice) were manipulated in a 3 × 2 factorial design. Analysis of variance indicated significant main effects for both the applicant's suitability and “enthusiasm,” i.e., “enthusiastic” applicants were given higher evaluations by the students.