Perceptiveness and Confidence of Politically Skilled Raters

Abstract

This paper takes a novel approach to the study of political skill during the selection process. Specifically, it focuses on the political skill of raters who assess applicants rather than the political skill of applicants trying to influence raters. Participants were presented with, and asked to respond to, a scenario involving the hiring of a prospective hotel manager. Two characteristics of politically skilled individuals form the basis of the study’s hypotheses. First, consistent with prior research, the study proposed that individuals high in political skill would be more perceptive than those low in political skill when faced with contextual nuances. In addition to finding support for a direct effect for political skill, political skill also mediated the relationship between sources of knowledge and rater decisions. Second, based on prior research that politically skilled individuals exhibit greater resilience, the study proposed and found support that this relates to their rating of job applicants. Further, political skill mediates rater decisions when asked about placing applicants into positions of power. Implications for practice and directions for future research are provided.