NCJ Number
96774
Journal
Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: (July-August 1984) Pages: 364-374
Date Published
1984
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The question of how the polygraph experience affects a new employee's work-related attitudes has been overlooked.
Abstract
In two experiments, subjects were exposed to different hiring scenarios -- one included a polygraph examination, the other did not -- and then responded to a questionnaire of work-related attitudes. Results indicated that preemployment polygraph examinations may induce negative work-related attitudes. These findings suggest that the polygraph experience acts as a symbolic communication from the employer to the prospective employee, imparting information that may induce feelings of distrust and dislike. Moreover, the polygraph experience may be interpreted by prospective employees as evidence of high levels of employee theft, thus establishing a new (higher) norm of peer theft behavior. Two table and 16 references are included. (Author abstract modified)