Are we getting fooled again? Coming to terms with limitations in the use of personality tests for personnel selection

    Authors

    F. P. Morgeson; M. A. Campion; R. L. Dipboye; J. R. Hollenbeck; K. Murphy;N. Schmitt

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Pers. Psychol.

    Keywords

    CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY; JOB-PERFORMANCE; RESPONSE DISTORTION; APPLICANT REACTIONS; HIRING DECISIONS; 5-FACTOR MODEL; METAANALYSIS; IMPACT; SCALE; PSYCHOLOGY; Psychology, Applied; Management

    Abstract

    We recently published an article in which we highlighted a number of issues associated with the use of self-report personality tests in personnel selection contexts (Morgeson et al., 2007). Both Ones, Dilchert, Viswesvaran, and Judge (2007) and Tett and Christiansen (2007) have written responses to this article. In our response to these articles we address many of the issues raised by Ones et al. and Tett and Christiansen. In addition to a detailed response, we make the following 4 key points: (1) Our criticisms of personality testing apply only to the selection context, not to all research on personality; (2) the observed validities of personality tests predicting job performance criteria are low and have not changed much over time; (3) when evaluating the usefulness of using personality tests to select applicants, one must not ignore the observed, uncorrected validity; and (4) when discussing the value of personality tests for selection contexts, the most important criteria are those that reflect job performance. Implications for personality testing research and practice are discussed.

    Journal Title

    Personnel Psychology

    Volume

    60

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2007

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    1029

    Last Page

    1049

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000250946800008

    ISSN

    0031-5826

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