Strategic responses to negative self-assessment requests in job interviews: A comparative study of Chinese and French approaches

This study investigates the impression management strategies employed by Chinese and French when reflecting on interview questions about personal weaknesses, drawing on responses collected from online Q&A platforms. The results show no significant difference between Chinese and French respondents in terms of “presenting strengths as weaknesses” and “recognizing real weaknesses”. However, Chinese respondents report a higher likelihood of employing tactful language, while French respondents report a higher tendency of giving evasive answers, especially satire and refusals. Both groups exhibit a transactional motivation to achieve effectiveness and an interactional motivation to enhance self-image, with Chinese responses reporting relatively greater importance on protecting the interviewer's positive image. This study posits that cultural traits, interview context, and question framing jointly shape respondents’ attitudes and strategies.