Psychology explains why nervous job seekers may be more likely to fake confidence in interviews and why anxiety can push them to present a false image

Psychology of fake confidence in job interview: A job interview can turn confidence into a performance. For some applicants, the pressure of being judged may be so intense that presenting themselves honestly no longer feels sufficient, and psychological research suggests that anxiety about how they are perceived may push some candidates to exaggerate or even fabricate aspects of their professional image.

A 2020 study by Deborah Powell of the University of Guelph and researchers from other Canadian institutions, published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, examined the Psychology of fake confidence in job interviews and the link between interview anxiety and deceptive impression management. They find that applicants who reported greater anxiety during interviews were also more likely to report using deceptive tactics to influence how interviewers perceived them.

The researchers described this behavior as a possible self-protective mechanism: when people fear that their actual qualities will not create the impression they want, they may attempt to construct a more favorable version of themselves.


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Psychology of fake confidence in interview and why it can trigger anxiety

Unlike many other situations in which people simply have to demonstrate what they know, a job interview combines performance with intense social evaluation. Candidates have to answer questions, communicate clearly, appear confident, establish rapport and convince an interviewer that they are competent, interested and a good fit for the organization, all while knowing that the interaction could determine whether they get the job.

Psychologists describe this type of concern as being rooted in self-presentation: the attempt to control the image that other people form of us. That creates a difficult psychological situation.

A candidate may want to appear confident and competent, but simultaneously believe they lack the social skills, experience or ability to create that impression naturally. The resulting gap between who they believe they are and who they think they need to appear to be can become a source of anxiety. And that is where faking can enter the picture.

Job interview anxiety may make exaggeration feel protective

The researchers proposed that deceptive impression management can serve to protect oneself when an applicant is worried about being judged negatively. For example, a candidate who doubts whether their experience is impressive enough might exaggerate an achievement. Someone worried about appearing incompetent might overstate a particular skill. Others may create a slightly more favorable version of their personality, experience or fit with the organization.

The study distinguishes these behaviors from ordinary, honest self-promotion.

Honest impression management (HIM) involves emphasizing genuine strengths. Deceptive impression management (DIM), by contrast, involves exaggerating or fabricating aspects of one's qualifications or image.

The researchers were particularly interested in the latter because it can arise when candidates perceive a mismatch between their current image and the image they believe the interviewer wants to see.

The study involved real job applicants

The researchers did not rely solely on hypothetical scenarios. They studied 202 students who had applied for a real research assistant position. The applicants completed actual interviews and were subsequently asked to participate in the research study. The participants had an average age of about 21, and 82.7% were women.

After their interviews, participants completed questionnaires measuring their interview anxiety, personality traits and use of deceptive impression-management tactics.

Interview anxiety was assessed across several dimensions, including communication anxiety, appearance anxiety, social anxiety, performance anxiety and behavioral anxiety, the physical reactions associated with nervousness, such as a racing heart or sweaty palms.

The more anxious applicants were more likely to report faking

The results supported the researchers' central hypothesis. Overall, interview anxiety was positively associated with deceptive impression management. The strongest relationships were observed between deceptive impression management and social anxiety and communication anxiety.

The correlation between overall interview anxiety and deceptive impression management was moderate, while the relationship was particularly pronounced for social anxiety, which had a correlation of 0.30 with deceptive impression management. Communication anxiety showed a correlation of 0.26.

That does not mean anxiety automatically causes someone to lie in an interview. Rather, the findings show that people who experienced more interview anxiety also tended to report more deceptive impression-management behavior.

Personality also appeared to matter

The researchers found another interesting pattern involving extraversion. People higher in extraversion generally reported less interview anxiety, with extraversion negatively correlated with overall interview anxiety at r = −0.38. The relationship was especially strong with social anxiety.

One possible explanation is that socially confident individuals may feel more capable of producing the impression they want during an interview. They may believe they already possess the interpersonal skills necessary to appear competent, likable and confident.

That can reduce the perceived need to construct an alternative version of themselves.

By contrast, someone who feels uncomfortable in social situations may worry that their nervousness will expose them as less confident or capable than they want the interviewer to believe.

It's not necessarily about wanting to deceive

One of the more revealing aspects of the research is the possibility that interview faking is not always driven simply by a desire to manipulate. Instead, it may sometimes emerge from fear of losing an important opportunity.

A job interview carries both social and material consequences. Candidates are being evaluated by another person, while the outcome could affect employment, income, status and future opportunities.

Under those conditions, protecting one's self-esteem and avoiding a negative outcome can become powerful motivations.

The researchers therefore suggest that deceptive impression management may serve as a protective response when applicants believe their authentic self will not produce the desired reaction from the interviewer.

The confidence paradox

This creates an interesting paradox in job interviews. The applicant who appears most confident is not necessarily the one who feels most confident. Someone who is genuinely comfortable with social evaluation may have little reason to exaggerate. But an anxious candidate may feel that showing their real level of nervousness could damage their chances, creating pressure to compensate by projecting greater confidence than they actually feel.

In that sense, what looks like overconfidence from the outside may sometimes be a response to insecurity on the inside. The study does not establish that every nervous applicant will fake credentials or fabricate experience. Nor does it suggest that socially anxious people are inherently dishonest.