How people perceive different types of social media screening and their behavioral intention to pursue employment

Abstract

The majority of hiring companies use social media content to screen job applicants. How social media content is used in hiring decisions creates different perceptions and influences applicants’ behavioral intentions to pursue employment with the company. This experimental study investigated how people responded to different types of social media screening policies. Social media policy perception (SMPP) and behavioral intention to pursue employment (BIPE) scales were developed for this study and the psychometric properties of each scale are presented. Our results indicated that participants’ SMPP mediated the relation between the types of social media screening policies and BIPE. SMPP strongly influenced BIPE. The policy in which the company screens professional social media content produced the best perceptions. The policy in which the company screens professional and personal social media content produced negative perceptions. The policy in which the company requires people to disclose their social media usernames and passwords produced the worst perceptions. Requiring people to disclose their social media usernames and passwords produced low BIPE regardless of their level of agreeableness whereas screening only professional social media content produced higher BIPE for agreeable people. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.