Why Women Handle Job Interview Stress Better Than Men

Study: Women handle job interview anxiety better than men

Workplace stress is ubiquitous these days and a common topic. However, job interview stress isn’t nearly as talked about. Researchers from the University of Western Ontario decided to investigate how men and women handle the stresses of job interviews. While the topic is complex, the short story is that while women tend to feel more stressed about job interviews, they outperform men because of their proactive coping strategies.

Justin Feeney, now an associate professor at Saint Mary’s College, was on the research team as a doctoral student at Western University. “We conducted two different studies,” Feeney explained. “The first one examined the effects of job interview anxiety on job interview performance and we confirmed previous research that interview anxiety is a negative predictor of performance.” 

Next, the research team delved deeper to discover if gender influenced these findings. The results were surprising. “We found that even though women experienced more interview anxiety than men, it didn’t affect their performance as much as it did for men,” Feeney shared. “We were curious of why that was.”

The researchers decided to conduct simulated interviews with university students to observe their coping mechanisms. Their goal was to learn why and how men and women reacted differently to job interview stress and how it affected their performance. 

“We tailored an instrument that measured coping styles of men and women in interviews and what we found was women adapted more proactively than did men,” Feeney explained. “They would do things like seek social support from loved ones, friends and colleagues about their anxiety and do practical things like practicing mock interviews with their friends.”

Men, however, tended toward less helpful behavior. “Men, on the other hand, reacted with more maladaptive coping strategies,” Feeney noted. “They would pretend it was not happening, ignore it, watch TV and do things that relieved stress but hindered performance later.”

More research on job interview stress

Consider the following additional interesting findings on job interview stress: 

• Virtual interviews are also stressful: Most professionals are acquainted with stress from in-person job interviews. However, the rise of remote work, fueled by the pandemic, saw many job interviews transition from in-person to remote — and virtual interviews typically aren’t any less stressful. In fact, according to researchers from the University of Toronto, pandemic-associated stress and increased competition made COVID-19-era virtual interviews particularly stressful. Unfortunately, this hasn’t changed in the post-pandemic era. According to the National Library of Medicine, digital job interviews are just as stressful as in-person interviews. 
• Job interviews stress out everyone: According to a JDP study, 93 percent of Americans admit to feeling job-interview-related anxiety. Additionally, when it comes to dreaded events, job interviews rank just below public speaking and far outrank other nerve-wracking activities like dentist visits and first dates.  
• Interviewees are worried about how they’ll be perceived: Forty-one percent of respondents in the JDP study said they were nervous about not being able to answer interview questions, while another 16 percent were nervous about looking nervous.  
• Women may be better equipped for stressful situations: When it comes to stress responses in general, research suggests that women may respond better in intense, pressure-filled business situations (like job interviews). Researchers theorized that men have been conditioned to respond to stressful situations by “competing to win.” In contrast, stress triggers the release of oxytocin in women, promoting “tend-and-befriend” behaviors instead of more aggressive actions. These findings suggest that men react to stress triggers by treating them as life-and-death situations while women are more inclined to handle and work through stress. 
• Women’s ability to connect with others may help with stress: According to the American Psychological Association, women may have an edge when it comes to stress management strategies. They are more likely than men to deal with stress by fostering relationships with family and friends, proactively practicing stress management and focusing on eating and sleeping well. 

Clearly, job interview stress is near-universal, but healthy coping mechanisms can help mitigate nervousness and anxiety. 

What to keep in mind with job interviews

Job interview stress research findings are valuable for job seekers and can help them better handle their stress, present themselves in the best possible light and improve outcomes. Feeney advises applicants to help their own cause by not shying away from interview anxiety. Instead, they should use it to fuel increased preparation and confidence. 

“Based on the current research, I would suggest really practically focusing on how to improve their performance,” Feeney recommended. “Practice mock interviews and read books on interviews so you can increase your self-efficacy. Talk to friends and family about the interview and how to deal with the anxiety.”

However, these insights can do more than help job candidates. They’re also helpful for businesses that want to improve hiring and recruitment processes and choose the best candidates. Costly bad hires can wreak havoc on operations, so businesses should understand that an interview isn’t the definitive predictor of a job candidate’s ultimate success or failure.

“Research is showing that anxiety actually impairs the validity of the instrument,” Feeney cautioned. “You will actually end up making poor hiring decisions as a result of anxiety.” Making interviewees feel more at ease can encourage them to be more genuine, giving you a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of each candidate and allowing for better-informed hiring decisions.

“Recent research has shown that coaching applicants from the business perspective can lead to better hiring decisions,” Feeney shared. “Businesses may have a payoff for teaching applicants how to deal with anxiety. That will end up leading to better hiring decisions, which will, in turn, end up saving them money.”

Leveraging anxiety for better interview outcomes

Understanding how different genders cope with job interview anxiety can have significant implications for the hiring process for both job seekers and employers. Women’s tendency to manage stress through proactive strategies like seeking support and practicing for interviews helps them perform better despite higher anxiety levels. This insight underscores the importance of addressing interview anxiety and improving preparation methods to enhance performance and make better hiring decisions. 

Employers and job applicants alike can benefit from these findings by fostering environments and practices that mitigate stress and improve outcomes.

Adam Uzialko contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.