Personnel Selection:
Methods: Personality Tests
Personality Tests:
A selection procedure measure the personality
characteristics of applicants that are related to future job performance.
Personality tests typically measure one or more of five personality dimensions:
extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and
openness to experience.
Advantages
- can result in lower turnover due if applicants are selected for traits that
are highly correlated with employees who have high longevity within the
organization
- can reveal more information about applicant's abilities and interests
- can identify interpersonal traits that may be needed for certain jobs
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Disadvantages
- difficult to measure personality traits that may not be well defined
- applicant's training and experience may have greater impact on job
performance than applicant's personality
- responses by applicant may may be altered by applicant's desire to respond
in a way they feel would result in their selection
- lack of diversity if all selected applicants have same personality traits
- cost may be prohibitive for both the test and interpretation of results
- lack of evidence to support validity of use of personality tests
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Tips
Select traits carefully An employer that selects applicants
with high degree of 'assertiveness', 'independence', and 'self-confidence' may
end up excluding females significantly more than males which would result in
adverse impact.
Select tests carefully Any tests should have been analyzed for (high)
reliability and (low) adverse impact.
Not used exclusively Personality tests should not be the sole
instrument used for selecting applicants. Rather, they should be used in
conjunction with other procedures as one element of the selection process.
Applicants should not be selected on the basis of personality tests alone.
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Summary of Personality Tests
- Since there is not a correct answer to personality tests, the scoring of the
procedure could be questioned.
- Recent litigation has suggested that some items for these types of tests may
be too intrusive (Soroka v. Dayton Hudson, 1991).
- This technique lacks face validity. In other words, it would be difficult to
show how individual questions on certain personality measures are job related
even if the overall personality scale is a valid predictor of job performance.
- Hooke and Krauss (1971) administered three (3) tests to sergeant candidates;
the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Allport-Vemon-Lindzey Study
of Values, and the Gough Adjective Check List. These tests did not differentiate
candidates rated as good sergeant material from those rates as poorer
candidates. The researchers concluded that the groups may have been so similar
that these tests were not sensitive enough to differentiate them.
Types of Personality Tests
- Personal
Attribute Inventory. An interpersonal assessment instrument which consists
of 50 positive and 50 negative adjectives from Gough's Adjective Check List. The
subject is to select 30 which are most descriptive of the taregt group or person
in question. This instrument was specifically designed to tap affective
reactions and may be used in either assessing attitudes toward others or as a
self-concept scale.
- Personality
Adjective Checklist A comprehensive, objective measure of eight personality
styles (which are closely aligned with DSM-III-R Axis II constructs). These
eight personality styles are: introversive, inhibited, cooperative, sociable,
confident, forceful, respectful, and sensitive. This instrument is designed for
use with nonpsychiatric patients and normal adults who read minimally at the
eighth grade level. Test reports are computer-generated and are intended for use
by qualified professionals only. Interpretive statements are based on empirical
data and theoretical inference. They are considered probabilistic in nature and
cannot be considered definitive. (2K )
- Cross-Cultural
Adaptability Inventory Self-scoring six-point rating scale is a training
instrument designed to provide feedback to individuals about their potential for
cross-cultural effectiveness. It is most effective when used as part of a
training program. It can also be used as a team-building tool for culturally
diverse work groups and as a counseling tool for people in the process of
cross-cultural adjustment. The inventory contains 50 items, distributed among 4
subscales: emotional resilience, flexibility/openness, perceptual acuity,
personal autonomy. Materials:
- California
Psychological Inventory Multipurpose questionnaire designed to assess normal
personality characteristics important in everyday life that individuals make use
of to understand, classify, and predict their own behaviors and that of others.
In this revision, two new scales, empathy and independence, have been added;
semantic changes were made in 29 items; and 18 items were eliminated. The
inventory is applicable for use in a variety of settings, including business and
industry, schools and colleges, clinics and counseling agencies, and for cross
cultural and other research. May be used to advise employees/applicants about
their vocational plans.
Sample Questions of Personality Tests
The following items are similar to
items found on personality tests: