Effects of Individual Differences on Applicant Perceptions of an Operational Assessment Center

Knowing to what extent applicant reactions are related to stable individual differences and not only to characteristics of a selection procedure is important for the design and adminis-tration of the selection procedure and for dealing with applicants. The aim of this study was to explore relationships between individual differences (Big Five, core self-evaluations, trait affectivity, and general mental ability) and applicants ’ perceptions of an operational assess-ment center (AC). Data from 294 applicants revealed that individual difference variables explained significant variance in their perceptions of the AC, even after controlling for self-rated and actual performance. Based on these results, the nature of the applicant pool should be considered for designing selection procedures, dealing with applicants, and for re-search purposes. Applicants ’ reactions to selection procedures canhave a substantial impact on organizations. For ex-ample, applicant perceptions during selection proced-ures have been shown to affect important outcomes like the intentions to accept a job offer, to recommend the organization to others, or to pursue legal actio