The study of cognitive biases in job interviews has garnered significant attention due to its far-reaching implications for the economy and society. However, little research has focused on the biases exhibited by expert psychologists serving on psychology specialization examination committees. As such, this study has conducted a comprehensive examination of biases within the specialization exam in Israel. One additional objective of the research is to assess the levels of distress experienced by examinees following the examination. Questionnaires were administered to 418 psychologists participating in the clinical and educational psychology specialization exams. The findings unveiled several noteworthy outcomes. Firstly, several biases were identified, including ethnic stereotypes, biases stemming from cognitive load, and more. Secondly, examinees who presented a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) case experienced a higher failure rate. Thirdly, a positive association was found between exam failure and personal distress and this effect was stronger for educational examinees compared to clinical examinees. The most intriguing discovery was that all biases, without exception, occurred among clinical psychologists, whereas educational psychologists displayed no biases. This outcome contrasted with initial expectations. Consequently, the present study aims to expand the existing knowledge about psychological biases and stereotypes by elucidate the reasons behind this discrepancy between the two disciplines while considering the advantages and disadvantages associated with a sense of “expertise” in the realm of adult diagnostics.
AgerströmJ.RoothD.-O. (2009). Implicit prejudice and ethnic minorities: Arab‐Muslims in Sweden. International Journal of Manpower, 30(1/2), 43–55. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720910948384
2.
AgerströmJ.RoothD.-O. (2011). The role of automatic obesity stereotypes in real hiring discrimination. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 790–805. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021594
3.
AjzenstadtM.BorowskiA. (2005). Setting things straight: Probation officers’ perspectives on the impacts of the introduction of public defenders on Israel’s juvenile courts. Qualitative Social Work, 4(1), 33–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325005050198
4.
AlkalayS.DolevA. (2019). Public educational psychology services in Israel on the internet. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 8, 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-019-0298-4
5.
AngnerE. (2006). Economists as experts: Overconfidence in theory and practice. Journal of Economic Methodology, 13(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501780600566271
6.
BeckerJ.MedjedovicJ.MerkleC. (2019). The effect of CEO extraversion on analyst forecasts: Stereotypes and similarity bias. Financial Review, 54(1), 133–164. https://doi.org/10.1111/fire.12173
7.
BergerM.SarnyaiZ. (2015). “More than skin deep”: Stress neurobiology and mental health consequences of racial discrimination. Stress, 18(1), 1–10.
8.
ChanJ.WangJ. (2018). Hiring preferences in online labor markets: Evidence of a female hiring bias. Management Science, 64(7), 2973–2994. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2756
CohenY.HaberfeldY. (1998). Second-generation Jewish immigrants in Israel: Have the ethnic gaps in schooling and earnings declined?Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(3), 507–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198798329928
CollinsE.WattR. (2021). Using and understanding power in psychological research: A survey study. Collabra: Psychology, 7(1), 28250. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.28250
13.
ConnorK. M.KobakK. A.ChurchillL. E.KatzelnickD.DavidsonJ. R. (2001). Mini‐SPIN: A brief screening assessment for generalized social anxiety disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 14(2), 137–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.1055
14.
CorneilleO.HütterM. (2020). Implicit? What do you mean? A comprehensive review of the delusive implicitness construct in attitude research. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(3), 212–232.
15.
CorrellS. J.BenardS. (2006). Gender and racial bias in hiring. Memorandum report for University of Pennsylvania.
DanzigerS.LevavJ.Avnaim-PessoL. (2011). Extraneous factors in judicial decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(17), 6889–6892. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018033108
18.
DarleyJ. M.GrossP. H. (1983). A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.20
19.
de KockF. S.HauptfleischD. B. (2018). Reducing racial similarity bias in interviews by increasing structure: A quasi-experiment using multilevel analysis. International Perspectives in Psychology, 7(3), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/ipp0000091
20.
DolezsarC. M.McGrathJ. J.HerzigA. J.MillerS. B. (2014). Perceived racial discrimination and hypertension: A comprehensive systematic review. Health Psychology, 33(1), 20.
21.
ElkinsT. J.PhillipsJ. S.KonopaskeR.TownsendJ. (2001). Evaluating gender discrimination claims: Is there a gender similarity bias?Sex Roles, 44, 1–15.
22.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.BuchnerA.LangA. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G* Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior research methods, 41(4), 1149–1160.
23.
FiarmanS. E. (2016). Unconscious bias: When good intentions aren’t enough. Educational Leadership, 74(3), 10–15.
24.
GainesJ. (2017). Women in male-dominated careers.
25.
GawronskiB.BrochuP. M.SritharanR.StrackF. (2012). Cognitive consistency in prejudice-related belief systems: Integrating old-fashioned, modern, aversive, and implicit forms of prejudice. In GawronskiB.StrackF. (Eds.), Cognitive consistency: A fundamental principle in social cognition (pp. 369–389). The Guilford Press.
GlöcknerA. (2016). The irrational hungry judge effect revisited: Simulations reveal that the magnitude of the effect is overestimated. Judgment and Decision making, 11(6), 601–610.
28.
GoldscheiderC. (2019). Israel’s changing society: Population, ethnicity, and development. Routledge.
29.
GrantA. M.HofmannD. A. (2011). It’s not all about me: Motivating hand hygiene among health care professionals by focusing on patients. Psychological Science, 22(12), 1494–1499. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611419172
30.
GreenwaldA. G.BanajiM. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102(1), 4–27. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.102.1.4
31.
GumpB. B.KulikJ. A.HendersonG. G. (1998). Blaming the same-sex victim in HIV-prevention messages: Further examination of the self-protective similarity bias. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 20(2), 122–132. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2002_4
32.
HaberfeldY.CohenY. (2007). Gender, ethnic, and national earnings gaps in Israel: The role of rising inequality. Social Science Research, 36(2), 654–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2006.02.001
33.
HaiderA. H.SchneiderE. B.SriramN.DossickD. S.ScottV. K.SwobodaS. M.LosonczyL.HautE. R.EfronD. T.PronovostP. J.FreischlagJ. A.LipsettP. A.Cornwell IIIE. E.MacKenzieE. J.CooperL. A. (2014). Unconscious race and class bias: Its association with decision making by trauma and acute care surgeons. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 77(3), 409–416. https://doi.org/10.1097/ta.0000000000000392
34.
HallionL. S.RuscioA. M. (2011). A meta-analysis of the effect of cognitive bias modification on anxiety and depression. Psychological Bulletin, 137(6), 940.
35.
hebpsy.net. (2013, June 27). Training clinical psychologists in the academy and in the field: Confirm the existing situation and fight global trends?[In Hebrew.]hebpsy.net. https://www.hebpsy.net/blog_Post.asp?id=1008
36.
HeilmanM. E.EaglyA. H. (2008). Gender stereotypes are alive, well, and busy producing workplace discrimination. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(4), 393–398.
37.
HeilmanM. E.Parks-StammE. J. (2007). Gender stereotypes in the workplace: Obstacles to women’s career progress. In CorrellS. J. (Ed.), Social psychology of gender (pp. 47–77). Emerald.
38.
HessK. P. (2013). Investigation of nonverbal discrimination against women in simulated initial job interviews. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(3), 544–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2013.01034.x
39.
HoffmanM.KahnL. B.LiD. (2018). Discretion in hiring. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(2), 765–800. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjx042
40.
HunteH. E.WilliamsD. R. (2009). The association between perceived discrimination and obesity in a population-based multiracial and multiethnic adult sample. American journal of public health, 99(7), 1285–1292.
41.
IsaacC.LeeB.CarnesM. (2009). Interventions that affect gender bias in hiring: A systematic review. Academic Medicine, 84(10), 1440–1446.
JacobyR. (2004). Psychology in Israel. In StevensM. J.WeddingD. (Eds.), The handbook of international psychology (pp. 419–435). Routledge.
44.
KahnemanD. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Macmillan.
45.
KahnemanD.KleinG. (2009). Conditions for intuitive expertise: A failure to disagree. American Psychologist, 64(6), 515–526. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016755
KangJ.BennettM.CarbadoD.CaseyP.DasguptaN.FaigmanD.GodsilR.GreenwaldA. G.LevinsonJ.MnookinJ. (2011). Implicit bias in the courtroom. UCLA Law Review, 59, 1124–1186. https://www.uclalawreview.org/pdf/59-5-1.pdf.
48.
KleinG. A. (2017). Sources of power: How people make decisions. MIT Press.
49.
KondrlaP.TvrdoňM.TkáčováH. (2020). Current challenges for social work: Stereotyping as an obstacle to the integration of marginalized groups into society. In ICERI2020 Proceedings (pp. 3837–3843). IATED.
KriegerL. H. (1995). The content of our categories: A cognitive bias approach to discrimination and equal employment opportunity. Stanford Law Review, 48, 1161–1248.
52.
KubeD.WeidlichJ.KreijnsK.DrachslerH. (2024). Addressing gender in STEM classrooms: The impact of gender bias on women scientists’ experiences in higher education careers in Germany. Education and Information Technologies, 1–28.
53.
KuncelN. R.KliegerD. M.ConnellyB. S.OnesD. S. (2013). Mechanical versus clinical data combination in selection and admissions decisions: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(6), 1060–1072. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034156
LeeC. Y.FurnhamA.MerrittC. (2017). Effect of directness of exposure and trauma type on Mental Health Literacy of PTSD. Journal of Mental Health, 26(3), 257–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2016.1276531
56.
LegenbauerT.VocksS.RüddelH. (2008). Emotion recognition, emotional awareness and cognitive bias in individuals with bulimia nervosa. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(6), 687–702. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20483
57.
LevavJ.HeitmannM.HerrmannA.IyengarS. S. (2010). Order in product customization decisions: Evidence from field experiments. Journal of Political Economy, 118(2), 274–299. https://doi.org/10.1086/652463
58.
LevinS.SinclairS.VeniegasR. C.TaylorP. L. (2002). Perceived discrimination in the context of multiple group memberships. Psychological Science, 13(6), 557–560. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00498
59.
Lewin-EpsteinN.SemyonovM. (1986). Ethnic group mobility in the Israeli labor market. American Sociological Review, 51(3), 342–352. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095306
60.
Lewin-EpsteinN.SemyonovM. (1992). Local labor markets, ethnic segregation, and income inequality. Social Forces, 70(4), 1101–1119. https://doi.org/10.2307/2580203
61.
LinT. R.DobbinsG. H.FarhJ. L. (1992). A field study of race and age similarity effects on interview ratings in conventional and situational interviews. Journal of applied psychology, 77(3), 363.
62.
MartinP.BarnardA. (2013). The experience of women in male-dominated occupations: A constructivist grounded theory inquiry. sa Journal of Industrial Psychology, 39(2), 1–12.
63.
MeeussenL.BegenyC. T.PetersK.RyanM. K. (2022). In traditionally male‐dominated fields, women are less willing to make sacrifices for their career because discrimination and lower fit with people up the ladder make sacrifices less worthwhile. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 52(8), 588–601.
64.
MuravenM.BaumeisterR. F. (2000). Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle?Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.247
65.
NandigamaD.ShyamsunderA. (2021). Eeny, meeny, miny, moe: Hire him and let her go? Using science to reduce hiring bias. NHRD Network Journal, 14(2), 259–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631454120987343
66.
NickersonR. S. (1998). Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of General Psychology, 2(2), 175–220. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175
67.
NørskovS.DamholdtM. F.UlhøiJ. P.JensenM. B.MathiasenM. K.EssC. M.SeibtJ. (2022). Employers’ and applicants’ fairness perceptions in job interviews: Using a teleoperated robot as a fair proxy. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 179(1), 121641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121641
68.
OberaiH.AnandI. M. (2018). Unconscious bias: Thinking without thinking. Human Resource Management International Digest, 26(6), 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid-05-2018-0102
69.
OeberstA.ImhoffR. (2023). Toward parsimony in bias research: A proposed common framework of belief-consistent information processing for a set of biases. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(6), 1464–1487.
70.
PachurT.HertwigR.SteinmannF. (2012). How do people judge risks: Availability heuristic, affect heuristic, or both?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18(3), 314–330. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028279
71.
PedersenM. J.NielsenV. L. (2020). Bureaucratic decision‐making: A multi‐method study of gender similarity bias and gender stereotype beliefs. Public Administration, 98(2), 424–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12622
72.
PetersU. (2022). What is the function of confirmation bias?Erkenntnis, 87(3), 1351–1376.
73.
PingitoreR.DugoniB. L.TindaleR. S.SpringB. (1994). Bias against overweight job applicants in a simulated employment interview. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(6), 909–917. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.79.6.909
74.
PowellA.SangK. J. (2015). Everyday experiences of sexism in male-dominated professions: A Bourdieusian perspective. Sociology, 49(5), 919–936.
75.
PriceM.SzafranskiD. D.van Stolk-CookeK.GrosD. F. (2016). Investigation of abbreviated 4 and 8 item versions of the PTSD Checklist 5. Psychiatry Research, 239, 124–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.03.014
76.
PurkissS. L. S.PerrewéP. L.GillespieT. L.MayesB. T.FerrisG. R. (2006). Implicit sources of bias in employment interview judgments and decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 101(2), 152–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.06.005
77.
QuinteroA. J.SegalL. S.KingT. S.BlackK. P. (2009). The personal interview: Assessing the potential for personality similarity to bias the selection of orthopaedic residents. Academic Medicine, 84(10), 1364–1372. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0b013e3181b6a9af
78.
RemediosJ. D.ReiffJ. S.HinzmanL. (2020). An identity-threat perspective on discrimination attributions by women of color. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(7), 889–898. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620908175
RoehlingM. V.CampionJ. E.ArveyR. D. (1999). Unfair discrimination issues. In EderR. W.HarrisM. M. (Eds.), The employment interview handbook (pp. 49–67). Sage.
81.
RosenG. A. (2000). Research digest: The examination for professional practice in psychology (EPPP). ASPPB.
82.
RossM. J.HolzmanL. A.HandalP. J.GilnerF. H. (1991). Performance on the examination for the professional practice of psychology as a function of specialty, degree, administrative housing, and accreditation status. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 22(5), 347–350. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.22.5.347
83.
RoulinN.LukacikE. R.BourdageJ. S.ClowL.BakourH.DiazP. (2023). Bias in the background? The role of background information in asynchronous video interviews. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 44(3), 458–475. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2680
84.
RoyceC. S.HayesM. M.SchwartzsteinR. M. (2019). Teaching critical thinking: A case for instruction in cognitive biases to reduce diagnostic errors and improve patient safety. Academic Medicine, 94(2), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000002518
85.
SaccoJ. M.ScheuC. R.RyanA. M.SchmittN. (2003). An investigation of race and sex similarity effects in interviews: A multilevel approach to relational demography. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 852–865. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.852
86.
SassonD. (2006). Are Grinberg and Bernstein more employable than Buzaglo and Abuksis? A field experiment on labor market discrimination by origin and gender. The Maurice Falk Institute for economic research in Israel. https://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/∼falk/images/files/sp0026.pdf
87.
SchafferJ. B.RodolfaE.OwenJ.LipkinsR.WebbC.HornJ. (2012). The examination for professional practice in psychology: New data–practical implications. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 6(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026823
88.
SchimmackU. (2021). The implicit association test: A method in search of a construct. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(2), 396–414.
89.
Shakespeare-FinchJ.ArmstrongD. (2010). Trauma type and posttrauma outcomes: Differences between survivors of motor vehicle accidents, sexual assault, and bereavement. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 15(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325020903373151
StanovichK. E.WestR. F. (2000). Individual differences in reasoning: Implications for the rationality debate?Behavioural and Brain Science, 23(5), 665–726. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x00003435
92.
TaylorS. D.CharltonJ. P.RanyardR. (2012). Ethnic and gender differences in the labour market perceptions of post‐higher education job seekers: ‘Double jeopardy’ or ‘ethnic prominence. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 85(2), 353–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.2011.02041.x
93.
TemplerD. I.TangenK. (2013). Examination for professional practice in psychology: High failure rate on licensing exams taken by professional school graduates. Sage Open, 3(2), 2158244013489689. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013489689
94.
TemplerD. I.TomeoM. E. (2000). Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology subtest scores of professional and traditional clinical psychology program graduates. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 134(2), 140–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980009600856
van GeeneK.de GrootE.ErkelensC.ZwartD. (2016). Raising awareness of cognitive biases during diagnostic reasoning. Perspectives on Medical Education, 5(3), 182–185. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs40037-016-0274-4
97.
WalfishS.McAlisterB.O’DonnellP.LambertM. J. (2012). An investigation of self-assessment bias in mental health providers. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 639–644. https://doi.org/10.2466/02.07.17.pr0.110.2.639-644
98.
Weinshall-MargelK.ShapardJ. (2011). Overlooked factors in the analysis of parole decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(42), E833.
WiltinkJ.KliemS.MichalM.Subic-WranaC.ReinerI.BeutelM. E.ZwerenzR. (2017). Mini-social phobia inventory (mini-SPIN): Psychometric properties and population based norms of the German version. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs12888-017-1545-2
102.
YoonC.LeeM. P.DanzigerS. (2007). The effects of optimal time of day on persuasion processes in older adults. Psychology and Marketing, 24(5), 475–495. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20169
103.
YuL. M.RinaldiS. A.TemplerD. I.ColbertL. A.SiscoeK.Van PattenK. (1997). Score on the examination for professional practice in Psychology as a function of attributes of clinical psychology graduate programs. Psychological Science, 8(5), 347–350. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00423.x
