The “Hot Mess” of Situational Judgment Test Construct Validity and Other Issues

Abstract

The construct validity of situational judgment tests (SJTs) is a “hot mess.” The suggestions of Lievens and Motowidlo (2016) concerning a strategy to make the constructs assessed by an SJT more “clear and explicit” (p. 5) are worthy of serious consideration. In this commentary, we highlight two challenges that will likely need to be addressed before one can develop SJTs with clear and explicit constructs. We also offer critiques of four positions presented by Lievens and Motowidlo that are not well supported by evidence.