Predictors of fairness assessment for social media screening in employee selection

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that determine the response of potential candidates to the screening of private (represented by Facebook) and professional (LinkedIn) social networking sites (SNS) for personnel selection purposes, and in particular to examine how SNS screening in the personnel selection process is perceived by innovative candidates. METHODOLOGY: The empirical data were obtained through an e-questionnaire survey among c. 150 young Polish Internet users in 2021. Multiple linear regression with backward elimination was used to determine the predictors of perceived justice of Facebook and LinkedIn screening in the selection process. FINDINGS: The results confirmed previous scientific findings that the perceived justice of Facebook cybervetting is significantly lower than for LinkedIn and the privacy invasiveness of Facebook screening was rated significantly higher than for LinkedIn. The results of linear regression with backward elimination indicated that among the assumed factors influencing the perceived justice of Facebook and LinkedIn screening in the selection process (i.e., privacy invasiveness, personal innovativeness, self-image management, risk aversion, ability to control a social networking site’s information, above average performance self-assessment, a general concern for internet privacy, and – in the case of LinkedIn – having an account on LinkedIn) the perceived privacy invasiveness is the best predictor of perceived justice of both private (Facebook), and professional (LinkedIn) social networking site screening for personnel selection purposes. Also, the candidate’s self-image management affects the perceived justice of both types of social media used as selection tools, whereas personal innovativeness increases the acceptance of private social media (Facebook) scanning for this purpose. IMPLICATIONS: This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the perceived justice of ICT-based selection tools, and of social networking site screening for personnel selection purposes in particular. It expands the knowledge about the applicability of social networking site content analysis of Polish users, especially of innovative candidates. The paper also provides some practical recommendations to help organizations apply social media content analysis in a way that minimizes potential candidates’ perception of privacy invasiveness and increases their fairness perception. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: It is the first application of a cybervetting scale on a Polish sample that is advantageous in terms of comparability of data from different countries. We found that activities focused on creating one’s online image foster a higher acceptance of cybervetting that can diminish predictive validity of this type of selection practices.