Abstract
AbstractRecent research has highlighted competitive worldviews as a key predictor of faking—the intentional distortion of answers by candidates in the selection context. According to theoretical assumptions, applicants’ abilities, and especially their cognitive abilities, should influence whether faking motivation, triggered by competitive worldviews, can be turned into successful faking behavior. Therefore, we examined the influence of competitive worldviews on faking in personality tests and investigated a possible moderation of this relationship by cognitive abilities in three independent high school and university student samples (N1 = 133, N2 = 137, N3 = 268). Our data showed neither an influence of the two variables nor of their interaction on faking behavior. We discuss possible reasons for these findings and give suggestions for further research.
Highlights
In the context of personnel selection, many companies are concerned that applicants distort their answers in self-assessment tools in order to increase their chances of getting hired (Christiansen, Rozek, & Burns, 2010; Hogan, Hogan, & Roberts, 1996)
The mean Leistungsprüfsystem-2 Kurzversion (LPS-2K) score (M = 95.62, SD = 16.21) was above that reported by the test authors (Kreuzpointner, 2013: M = 80.19, SD only reported on a subtest level) but was fairly similar to scores from other samples of psychology students (Schwabe, 2018: M = 102.64, SD = 21.07)
All other key parameters indicated that our study design worked as expected. Another noteworthy fact is that the correlations between participants’ personality scores under the honest and the applicant condition were in the range that could be expected from previous research with similar study designs, but rather in upper part of the distribution and reached or even exceeded ranges assumed as test–retest reliability (Gnambs, 2014: pALL =. 80–.83; Viswesvaran & Ones, 2000: pALL = .73–.78)
Summary
In the context of personnel selection, many companies are concerned that applicants distort their answers in self-assessment tools in order to increase their chances of getting hired (Christiansen, Rozek, & Burns, 2010; Hogan, Hogan, & Roberts, 1996). This behavior— known as faking—is quite common in personality tests (e.g., Griffith, Chmielowski, & Yoshita, 2007; Tett, Freund, Christiansen, Fox, & Coaster, 2012) and job interviews (e.g., Levashina & Campion, 2007; Weiss & Feldman, 2006). According to some authors, faking can negatively affect selection decisions (e.g., Donovan, Dwight, & Schneider, 2014; Peterson, Griffith, Isaacson, O’Connell, & Mangos, 2011), this position is certainly not shared by everyone in the field (e.g., Hogan et al, 1996; König, Steiner Thommen, Steiner Thommen, Wittwer, & Kleinmann, 2017).
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