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Abstract
Despite their increasing prevalence, job applicants remain skeptical regarding the involvement of artificially intelligent (AI) technologies in the hiring process. This is problematic for practitioners because applicant reactions affect organizations’ ability to attract and recruit talented candidates and maintain a positive public image. Drawing on applicant attribution-reaction theory (AART), this present study proposes that more negative reactions to AI (as opposed to human) decision-makers can be explained by applicants’ lessened sense of control in the selection process, whereas more positive reactions can be explained by higher perceptions of stability in the hiring outcome. I also suggest that applicants’ lessened sense of control over the interview is magnified when the applicant is not hired. Participants were assigned to a vignette scenario wherein they submitted a video-recorded interview to be judged by either a human or AI and were either hired or rejected. Consistent with the self-serving bias, results confirmed that not being hired increased the negative influence of the AI on applicants’ sense of control over the outcome, resulting in lower perceptions of fairness and organizational attractiveness. All applicants viewed the AI-enabled decision as more stable than a hiring managers’ decision, which resulted in more favorable reactions among hired applicants. Overall, the negative reactions generated by lowered perceptions of causality/control outweighed the positivity generated by higher perceptions of stability.