Department of Management, Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 15;18(8):e0290011. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290011. eCollection 2023.
We utilize signaling theory as a foundation for testing ways to decrease reference providers' fear of adverse consequences and increase disclosure of workplace incivility in reference checks. We focus on three reminders-commonly recommended by practitioners-that may be sent to reference providers in the instructions prior to the reference check: reminders of applicant consent, qualified privilege, and confidentiality. 420 supervisors were recruited via Prolific.co to complete a hypothetical reference check for the employee with whom they least like to work. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a two (applicant consent reminder: yes/no) X two (qualified privilege reminder: yes/no) X two (confidentiality reminder: yes/no) between-subjects design. Instructions before the reference check were manipulated in a manner that corresponded to their experimental condition, after which they completed measures of fear and incivility. Results showed no main effects, but two interactions. Applicant consent and qualified privilege interacted in relation to fear of adverse legal consequences, and confidentially and qualified privilege interacted in relation to reports of applicant incivility (p < .10). Collectively, our largely null findings suggest that reference checks may be a limited tool for incivility prevention.
我们利用信号理论作为基础，来测试减少参考提供人对不利后果的恐惧并增加工作场所无礼行为披露的方法。我们关注三种提醒方式——这是从业者常建议的，可在参考检查前的说明中发送给参考提供人：申请人同意、合格特权和保密性提醒。420 名主管通过 Prolific.co 被招募来为他们最不喜欢与之共事的员工完成假设的参考检查。参与者被随机分配到一个二（申请人同意提醒：是/否）X 二（合格特权提醒：是/否）X 二（保密性提醒：是/否）的被试间设计的八种条件之一。参考检查前的说明按照与其实验条件相对应的方式进行操纵，之后他们完成了对恐惧和无礼行为的衡量。结果没有显示出主要影响，但有两个交互作用。申请人同意和合格特权在与对不利法律后果的恐惧方面相互作用，而保密性和合格特权在与对申请人无礼行为的报告方面相互作用（p<.10）。总的来说，我们的大量无效发现表明，参考检查可能是防止无礼行为的一种有限工具。
