Task

The task is adapted from the employment interview task of Snyder and Swann (1978). Participants are provided with a hypothesis regarding an interviewee’s personality (e.g., the candidate is extroverted) and then select among a set of 20 questions eight ones to ask to the interviewee to test the hypothesis. The set of questions includes eight questions based on the assumption that the candidate has the personality attribute (e.g., What events make you feel popular with people?), eight questions based on the opposite assumption (e.g., What things do you dislike about loud parties?), and four neutral questions (e.g., What are some of your favorite books?). Four items are used, each one involving a particular personality trait (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extroversion).

Items (4)

We indicate below the items used by Berthet, Teovanovic and Gardelle (2022). Participants are required to select four questions among a set of 10.

Item 1 (Agreeableness)

Below you will find a description of a certain type of person. Please read this description very carefully. I would like you to imagine that you are about to interview a candidate for a job in order to determine the extent to which the candidate matches the personality profile. 

"This type of person is typically good-natured, gentle, and cooperative. They are generous, warmhearted, and do not mind giving of their time and energy. They are not prone to jealousy. They will accept blame if things go wrong, rather than putting the blame on others. They are willing to compromise and find ways of cooperating with others, even in difficult situations." 

Please read through the entire list of questions; then circle the numbers of the 4 questions you select. 

1. Tell me about a time you held yourself publicly accountable for a mistake you made. (confirming) 

2. What do you see as your greatest strengths? Your greatest weaknesses? (neutral) 

3. Tell me about a time when your quick temper got you in trouble? (disconfirming) 

4. What do you think are the most pressing problems facing America today? (neutral) 

5. What do you do to keep from resenting another person who seems to be getting all the break? (confirming) 

6. What most irritates you about others? (disconfirming) 

7. How does your jealousy of others usually show itself? (disconfirming) 

8. How do you maintain a positive outlook on life? (confirming) 

9. Describe a situation in which you are likely to be argumentative rather than cooperative. (disconfirming) 

10. Tell me about a situation in which cooperating with others really paid off for you. (confirming)

Item 2 (Conscientiousness)

"This type of person is typically responsible, orderly, and persevering. They can be depended on to accept responsibilities. They do not allow personal benefit or gain to conflict with ethical principles. They are painstaking and thorough, and see a job through in spite of difficulties or temptations. They are hardworking, strong-willed, and sometimes get overinvolved with details." 

1. How did you feel the last time someone depended on you to do something and you let them down? (disconfirming) 

2. Tell me about a situation where your concern for detail made it difficult to get a project done on time. (confirming) 

3. How would other people describe you? (neutral) 

4. How often do you cut classes? (disconfirming) 

5. Describe a situation in which you avoided compromising your personal standards even under pressure to do so. (confirming) 

6. What do you do to keep yourself motivated to finish a task on which you are losing interest? (confirming) 

7. What do you see yourself doing five years from now? (neutral) 

8. Tell me about some way in which you feel you differ from the typical college student. (confirming) 

9. In what kinds of situations are you willing to stretch your ethics to get something you want? (disconfirming) 

10. What was your reaction the last time you got a low grade on a paper because of typing errors, spelling mistakes, or bad grammar? (disconfirming)

Item 3 (Emotional Stability)

"This type of person is typically poised, calm, and composed. They rarely seem to get upset or nervous. They go on with what they are doing regardless of distractions. They do not lose their composure when provoked or when in an emergency situation. They perform well under pressure." 

1. Have you ever been in a situation where you kept your cool while everyone else fell apart? (confirming) 

2. What is the greatest source of anxiety for you? (disconfirming) 

3. In a few sentences, how would you describe yourself? (neutral) 

4. Tell me about a time when you handled a difficult situation well. (confirming) 

5. What sort of situations embarrass you? (disconfirming) 

6. What is it about pressure situations that prevents you from doing your best work? (disconfirming) 

7. Tell me about a situation in which you felt yourself about to lose your cool. What did you do to prevent this from happening? (confirming) 

8. Describe the ideal job. (neutral)

9. How do you show your nervousness? (disconfirming) 

10. What do you do to keep calm in pressure situations? (confirming)

Item 4 (Extroversion)

"Extroverts are typically outgoing, sociable, energetic, confident, talkative, and enthusiastic. Generally confident and relaxed in social situations, this type of person rarely has trouble making conversation with others. This type of person makes friends quickly and easily and is usually able to make a favorable impression on others. This type of person is usually seen by others as characteristically warm and friendly." 

1. What events make you feel popular with people? (confirming) 

2. What activities do you really excel in? (neutral) 

3. What do you do to keep yourself in good spirits? (confirming) 

4. Tell me about sometime when you felt left out from some social group. How did you handle these feelings? (disconfirming) 

5. What kind of events make you feel like being alone? (disconfirming) 

6. What kind of charities do you like to contribute to? (neutral) 

7. In what social situations are you most likely to be outgoing and friendly? (confirming) 

8. Think about times when your shyness in social situations has made you come across as being aloof. Give me an example. (disconfirming) 

9. In what social situations are you most likely to feel self-assured and confident in yourself? (confirming) 

10. Think about a time when you really wanted to talk to someone, but just couldn't bring yourself to initiate conversation. What types of situations are most likely to make you feel this way? (disconfirming)

Scoring

In each item, the confirmation bias score is the number of confirming questions selected by the participant. The total score is calculated as the average of the four scores.