Impact of Elaboration on Socially Desirable Responding and the Validity of Biodata Measures

Making Job Candidates More Honest With a Theory-Based Form

Abstract. In collaboration with recruiting and background check firms, we gave a customized application form designed to both deter and enhance detection of deception to 27 real-life candidates. A total of 269 elements common to both the customized form and their usual free-form resumes were verified. Inaccuracies were reduced from 23% on the resumes to 11% on the customized forms ( p < .001). Furthermore, candidates who did not provide contact information for past professional experiences to facilitate our verifications were less likely to submit fully accurate information about the experience, compared to those who did provide contact information (39% and 77%, respectively, p = .007). This novel method thus appears to be a cost-effective way to address resume fraud.

The Lazy or Dishonest Respondent: Detection and Prevention

Self-report measures are characterized as being susceptible to threats associated with deliberate dissimulation or response distortion (i.e., social desirability responding) and careless responding. Careless responding typically arises in low-stakes settings (e.g., participating in a study for course credit) where some respondents are not motivated to respond in a conscientious manner to the items. In contrast, in high-stakes assessments (e.g., prehire assessments), because of the outcomes associated with their responses, respondents are motivated to present themselves in as favorable a light as possible and, thus, may respond dishonestly in an effort to accomplish this objective. In this article, we draw a distinction between the lazy respondent, which we associate with careless responding, and the dishonest respondent, which we associate with response distortion. We then seek to answer the following questions for both careless responding and response distortion: ( a) What is it? ( b) Why is it a problem or concern? ( c) Why do people engage in it? ( d) How pervasive is it? ( e) Can and how is it prevented or mitigated? ( f) How is it detected? ( g) What does one do when one detects it? We conclude with a discussion of suggested future research directions and some practical guidelines for practitioners and researchers.

Predicting Leader Emergence with Bright and Dark Traits

Leader emergence was regressed on five factor model (FFM; NEO Five-Factor Inventory) traits and four additional traits (achievement, dominance, aggression, and Machiavellianism) in a sample of 280 undergraduates (229 women (82%), 51 men; M age = 19.7 (SD = 1.4). The Jackson Personality Research Form (Jackson, Personality research form manual (3rd ed.). Port Huron, MI: Sigma Assessment Systems, Inc.) measured achievement, dominance, and aggression. Christie and Geis' (Studies in machiavellianism. San Diego: Academic Press) Mach IV scale measured Machiavellianism. In an independent groups analysis, six of the nine traits showed significant differences, indicating that leaders are less neurotic and Machiavellian, and more extroverted, open, agreeable, and dominant. However, in a logistic regression analysis, which controlled for shared variance among traits, only extraversion, openness, and dominance predicted leader emergence. Previous studies that did not use regression models showed significant differences for a large number of traits. Results from the present study indicate the importance of accounting for shared variance when analyzing personality traits in order to develop parsimonious models.

Job insecurity and impression management

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test competing models of the relationship between job insecurity and two forms of impression management (self- and supervisor-focused) on job performance. Specifically, does job insecurity lead to greater subsequent impression management; or, does preventative use of impression management subsequently lead to reductions in job insecurity? Additionally, how do these both relate to in-role performance?

Design/methodology/approach

Using two-wave survey data collected from 184 working adults in the USA and the two-step approach recommended by Cole and Maxwell (2003) and Taris and Kompier (2006), the authors tested cross-lagged relationship between job insecurity and both forms of impression management by comparing four different models: a stability model, a normal causation model (with cross-lagged paths from T1 job insecurity to T2 impression management), a reversed causation model (with cross-lagged paths from T1 impression management to T2 job insecurity) and a reciprocal causation model (with all cross-lagged paths described in the normal and reversed causation model).

Findings

Results were supportive of the reversed causation model which indicated that greater use of supervisor-focused impression management at Time 1 predicted lower levels of job insecurity at Time 2 (after controlling for prior levels of job insecurity); moreover, job insecurity at Time 1 was then significantly associated with more positive in-role behaviors at Time 2. Moreover, the test of the indirect effect between T1 impression management and T2 performance was significant.

Originality/value

These results suggest that impression management clearly plays an important role in understanding the relationship between job insecurity and job performance. However, employees appear to utilize impression management as a means of pre-emptively enhancing their job security, rather than as a tool to reactively cope with perceived job insecurity.

Are the results of questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics during the selection procedure for medical school application biased by social desirability?

Introduction: A stronger consideration of non-cognitive characteristics in Medical School application procedures is desirable. Psychometric tests could be used as an economic supplement to face-to-face interviews which are frequently conducted during university internal procedures for Medical School applications (AdH, Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen). This study investigates whether the results of psychometric questionnaires measuring non-cognitive characteristics such as personality traits, empathy, and resilience towards stress are vulnerable to distortions of social desirability when used in the context of selection procedures at Medical Schools. Methods: This study took place during the AdH of Lübeck University in August 2015. The following questionnaires have been included: NEO-FFI, SPF, and AVEM. In a 2x1 between-subject experiment we compared the answers from an alleged application condition and a control condition. In the alleged application condition we told applicants that these questionnaires were part of the application procedure. In the control condition applicants were informed about the study prior to completing the questionnaires. Results: All included questionnaires showed differences which can be regarded as social-desirability effects. These differences did not affect the entire scales but, rather, single subscales. Conclusion: These results challenge the informative value of these questionnaires when used for Medical School application procedures. Future studies may investigate the extent to which the differences influence the actual selection of applicants and what implications can be drawn from them for the use of psychometric questionnaires as part of study-place allocation procedures at Medical Schools.

Rethinking Social Desirability Scales: From Impression Management to Interpersonally Oriented Self-Control

Social desirability (specifically, impression management) scales are widely used by researchers and practitioners to screen individuals who bias self-reports in a self-favoring manner. These scales also serve to identify individuals at risk for psychological and health problems. The present review explores the evidence with regard to the ability of these scales to achieve these objectives. In the first part of the review, I present six criteria to evaluate impression management scales and conclude that they are unsatisfactory as measures of response style. Next, I explore what individual differences in impression management scores actually do measure. I compare two approaches: a defensiveness approach, which argues that these scales measure defensiveness that stems from vulnerable self-esteem, and an adjustment approach, which suggests that impression management is associated with personal well-being and interpersonal adjustment. Data from a wide variety of fields including social behavior, affect and well-being, health, and job performance tend to favor the adjustment approach. Finally, I argue that scales measuring impression management should be redefined as measures of interpersonally oriented self-control that identify individuals who demonstrate high levels of self-control, especially in social contexts.

Entwicklung von Situational Judgment Tests

Situational Judgment Tests (SJT) werden als psychologische Testverfahren zu Personalauswahlzwecken seit Anfang der 90er-Jahre vermehrt erforscht. Als Simulationsverfahren mit konstruktorientierter Erfassungsmethode zeichnen sie sich durch psychometrische Fundiertheit und kriteriumsorientierte Validität aus. Allerdings gleicht kaum ein SJT einem anderen. Dies liegt zum einen daran, dass sie üblicherweise im Hinblick auf spezifische Anforderungen entwickelt werden und somit aus Inhalten bestehen, die auf die jeweilige Situation bezogen sind. Ein weiterer Grund hierfür ist, dass in jedem SJT-Konstruktionsschritt (Generierung von Itemstamm und zugehörigen Antwortmöglichkeiten, Bestimmung der Effektivität der Antwortmöglichkeiten, Festlegung von Antwortformat und Scoring) unterschiedliche Vorgehensweisen existieren. In diesem Beitrag wird deshalb die Vielfalt der Möglichkeiten bei der Entwicklung von SJT dargestellt und eingeordnet. Dabei wird auf konzeptionelle Überlegungen und wenn möglich auf empirische Befunde zurückgegriffen, die bei der Entwicklung von SJT Berücksichtigung finden sollten.

Personnel Selection

We review developments in personnel selection since the previous review by Hough & Oswald (2000) in the Annual Review of Psychology. We organize the review around a taxonomic structure of possible bases for improved selection, which includes (a) better understanding of the criterion domain and criterion measurement, (b) improved measurement of existing predictor methods or constructs, (c) identification and measurement of new predictor methods or constructs, (d) improved identification of features that moderate or mediate predictor-criterion relationships, (e) clearer understanding of the relationship between predictors or between predictors and criteria (e.g., via meta-analytic synthesis), (f) identification and prediction of new outcome variables, (g) improved ability to determine how well we predict the outcomes of interest, (h) improved understanding of subgroup differences, fairness, bias, and the legal defensibility, (i) improved administrative ease with which selection systems can be used, (j) improved insight into applicant reactions, and (k) improved decision-maker acceptance of selection systems.

Developing a Biodata Measure and Situational Judgment Inventory as Predictors of College Student Performance

This article describes the development and validation of a biographical data (biodata) measure and situational judgment inventory (SJI) as useful predictors of broadly defined college student performance outcomes. These measures provided incremental validity when considered in combination with standardized college-entrance tests (i.e., SAT/ACT) and a measure of Big Five personality constructs. Racial subgroup mean differences were much smaller on the biodata and SJI measures than on the standardized tests and college grade point average. Female students tended to outperform male students on most predictors and outcomes with the exception of the SAT/ACT. The biodata and SJI measures show promise for student development contexts and for selecting students on a wide range of outcomes with reduced adverse impact.