A new study by GW researchers has found that in-person interviews for jobs created better impressions than interviews conducted through technology, according to a University press release.

The study focused on “the effects of technology-mediated interviews,” and was authored by Nikki Blacksmith, a doctoral candidate at GW’s department of organizational sciences and communication, as well as Jon Willford, another doctoral student in the department and Tara Behrend, an associate professor of industrial/organizational psychology, according to the release.

“We live in a world where we increasingly rely on technology, but this study reminds us that personal interactions should never be underestimated,” Blacksmith said in the release.

Blacksmith added that this study shows that organizations that are not consistent with the type of interview across all candidates “could result in fairness issues and even possibly a lawsuit.”

To find these results, the researchers “examined 12 articles published from 2000-2007 that included interviewer and interviewee ratings,” or assessments of how the companies and candidates performed during the interview. All of the articles included both in-person and technology-based interviews, according to the release.

The researchers then found that technology-based interviews resulted in lower ratings than in-person one, with video having the lowest ratings, followed by phone or computer interviews, according to the release.

The study also found, contrary to the assumption that as people became more accustomed to technology, the technology-based interviews would have more favorable ratings, that “the opposite occurred, and the ratings became more negative for more recent studies,” according to the release.