Learning Objectives

After completing your study of this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

• Discuss the history of employment testing in the United States during the 20th century.
• Report the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional interview and the structured interview for assessing job candidates.
• Describe the characteristics of a performance test and discuss two types of perfor­mance tests used by organizations.
• Describe the five-factor model of personality and name two tests that are based on this model.
• Discuss two types of integrity tests and describe the criticism these tests have received.
• Describe the three ways in which validity evidence can be generalized to new situations.
• Discuss performance appraisal instruments, give examples of three types of rating scales, and describe four types of rating errors.

Chapter Summary

During the early 20th century, psychologists such as Walter Dill Scott, Hugo Münsterberg, and Wal­ter Bingham began studying psychological principles and applying them to the world of work. Both Scott and Münsterberg proposed methods for validating employment tests prior to World War I. Following the war, psychologists designed tests for hiring individuals and interest inventories for predicting occupational success. Psychological tests also played a key role in World War II that pro­vided an impetus for development of assessment centers. Since World War II, organizations have made use of psychological tests for selection and placement of new employees, evaluation of current employees, and surveying of consumers.

The employment interview is the most widely used method for pre-employment testing. Most com­panies use the traditional interview, although structured interviews have been shown to have greater reliability and validity. Organizations also use performance tests, such as assessment centers and work samples, to assess how well job candidates can perform job tasks. High-fidelity performance tests repli­cate the job setting in detail. Low-fidelity performance tests such as situational judgment tests simulate job tasks using written, verbal, or visual descriptions.

Personality inventories measure stable and enduring constructs usually referred to as personality traits, such as conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, that predispose people to perform certain behaviors. The most popular theory among personality theorists today is the five-factor model. In the past, personnel psychologists discouraged the use of personality tests as employment tests because researchers had shown little relation between personality and job performance. Recently, because of research that has demonstrated that personality measures can be predictive of job performance, person­nel psychologists have begun to look much more favorably on personality tests that reflect the five-factor model. However, there is concern regarding the degree to which faking affects the validity of personality tests when used for employee selection.

Organizations interested in assessing job candidates’ integrity may use paper-and-pencil tests; how­ever, Congress has forbidden most organizations from using the polygraph, or lie detector, for employ­ment testing. When a job analysis indicates that cognitive skills are important for high performance, cognitive tests are useful for inclusion in a pre-employment assessment.

When Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, one of the specific areas addressed was hiring by organizations. The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) and federal case law sug­gest that all employment tests should be job related and have evidence of validity. Organizations should maintain records regarding protected classes applying for jobs. If a test results in adverse impact, an employer can be required to show evidence of the test’s validity and that there was no other equally valid test that would have had less adverse impact. If it is not practical to conduct a local validity study, orga­nizations sometimes rely on a validity generalization strategy to justify the use of the test.

Most employers conduct performance appraisals to evaluate the performance of their employees. Most organizations ask supervisors to evaluate employee performance by either ranking or rating employees on a number of predetermined dimensions, traits, and/or behaviors. The most popular method of rating employee performance uses a graphic rating scale. Two other scales based on observing and rating behav­iors are behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARSs) and the behavioral checklist. Persons who rate per­formance should be trained to avoid ratings errors such as leniency, severity, central tendency, and the halo effect. During recent years, many companies have starting using 360° feedback, in which employees compare self-ratings with ratings received from their supervisors, peers, subordinates, and customers.