Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to explore associations between self-reported rank ordering of a set of 23 job-related soft skills and frontal gamma (38 to 42 Hz) asymmetry emerging during exposure to the same set of soft skills. Method: Fourteen individuals responded to a soft skill assessment, then were exposed to a randomized list of the same soft skills' key words while collecting electroencephalographic (EEG) data, using a new implementation of standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) to analyze and view voxel images of real-time brain activity. A differential calculation, as a measure of approach or avoidance to the key word stimulus (Approach-Avoidance-Differential; AAD), was used to quantify the asymmetry in response to the stimuli. Spearman's Rank correlations (r s ) were calculated for the paired occurrences between the self- reported ranking of the soft skills and the AAD. Results: Overall, 71% of the cases resulted in correlations, indicating soft skill directionality response. Reduction in gamma response intensity was seen when participants' ranked their highest to lowest soft skills, as indicated in their self-reported assessments. Conclusions: These results will inform further organizational neuroscience research which has potential to lead to a new approach to self-report validation and methods to detect individual approach or avoidance biases which impact self-reporting assessments.
Highlights
The concept of self-report is a key element in many phases of psychology, counseling, as well as industrial-organizational coaching and human resource management
The main purpose of the study, with a single-subject design, was to measure correlations between self-reported rank ordering of a set of 23 soft skills and frontal gamma asymmetry emerging during exposure to the same set of soft skills stimuli, while simultaneously acquiring EEG data
When the 14 participants’ highest ranked personal skills are compared against their EEG responses to those same stimuli, there is a trending toward approach for their top five skills. This was indicated by a negative AAD score, together with an increased activation in their left frontal lobe, when examining gamma asymmetry in their frontal cortex
Summary
The concept of self-report is a key element in many phases of psychology, counseling, as well as industrial-organizational coaching and human resource management. Selfreports are limited by key issues, including the level of awareness, honesty, and ability to express internal thoughts and feelings, which is highly variable across individuals (Kanai & Rees, 2011). Self-reporting assessments, frequently in the form of ipsative or force choice assessments, are suspect in the absence of crossverification. Objective measures, including physiological responses, nonverbal expressions, and other observables, can be considered to supplement self-reports. A further limitation of ipsative assessments, as outlined in Bedwell, Fiore, and Salas (2011, 2014), are that several particular biases can influence selfreport measures: Consistency motif, social desirability, acquiescence biases, and self-serving biases. While a comprehensive discussion of these influences is beyond the scope of this paper, a brief
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