Context Of Personnel Selection Research Articles

How different backgrounds in video interviews can bias evaluations of applicants

AbstractOrganizations are increasingly using technology‐enabled formats such as asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) to evaluate candidates. However, the personal environment of applicants visible in AVI recordings may introduce additional bias in the evaluation of interview performance. This study extends existing research by examining the influence of cues signaling affiliation with Islam or homosexuality in the background and comparing them with a neutral background using an experimental design and a German sample (N = 222). Results showed that visible signs of religious affiliation with Islam led to lower perceived competence, while perceived warmth and interview performance were unaffected. Visual cues of homosexuality had no effect on perceptions of the applicant. In addition, personal characteristics of the raters, such as their intrinsic religious orientation or their attitudes towards homosexuality influenced applicants’ ratings, so that a non‐Muslim religious orientation was negatively associated with evaluations of the Muslim candidate and a negative attitude towards homosexuality was negatively associated with evaluations of the homosexual candidate. This study thus contributes to the literature on AVIs and discrimination against Muslims and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community in personnel selection contexts.

Do ethnic, migration‐based, and regional language varieties put applicants at a disadvantage? A meta‐analysis of biases in personnel selection

AbstractThis meta‐analysis examined biases in personnel selection owing to applicants' use of non‐standard language such as ethnic and migration‐based language varieties or regional dialects. The analysis summarized the results of 22 studies with a total N of 3615 raters that compared applicants with an accent or dialect with applicants speaking standard language. The primary studies used different standard and non‐standard languages and assessed different dependent variables related to hiring decisions in job interviews. The k = 109 effect sizes (Hedges' g) were assigned to the dependent variables of competence, warmth, and hirability. Non‐standard speakers were rated as less competent (δ = −0.70), less warm (δ = −0.17), and less hirable (δ = −0.51) compared to standard speakers. Thus, at the same level of competence, non‐standard speakers are rated lower than standard speakers and might, therefore, be disadvantaged in personnel selection contexts. We also considered several potential moderator variables (e.g., applicants' specific language variety, raters' own use of non‐standard language, and raters' background) but only found rather limited support for them. Furthermore, publication bias had only limited effects. Practical implications for personnel selection are discussed.

Detecting Applicant Faking With a Context-Specific Overclaiming Questionnaire

Abstract: In the context of personnel selection, self-reports are often biased by social desirability. For example, applicants may overstate their knowledge to make a good impression on a potential employer. Overclaiming questionnaires (OCQs) offer a means to assess whether applicants claim to have knowledge that they do not have. Previous studies evaluating whether OCQs are capable of detecting faking in personnel selection contexts reported mixed results but did not take the fit between the content of OCQ items and the selection context into account. In the present study, we therefore tailored an OCQ to the specific application context and compared its performance to that of Residualized Individual Change Scores (RICS), a competing measure of faking based on an achievement motivation questionnaire. A total of 123 participants first answered the OCQ and the motivational questionnaire in a control condition without application context. The two measures were then completed again as part of a mock application process, and participants were asked to honestly report their faking behavior afterward. Participants exhibited more overclaiming in the application context than in the control condition. The OCQ and RICS scores predicted participants’ self-reported faking with comparable accuracy. These results suggest that OCQs can compete with other measures of faking if their content is appropriately tailored to the application context.

Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection: Addressing systematic overcorrection for restriction of range.

This paper systematically revisits prior meta-analytic conclusions about the criterion-related validity of personnel selection procedures, and particularly the effect of range restriction corrections on those validity estimates. Corrections for range restriction in meta-analyses of predictor-criterion relationships in personnel selection contexts typically involve the use of an artifact distribution. After outlining and critiquing five approaches that have commonly been used to create and apply range restriction artifact distributions, we conclude that each has significant issues that often result in substantial overcorrection and that therefore the validity of many selection procedures for predicting job performance has been substantially overestimated. Revisiting prior meta-analytic conclusions produces revised validity estimates. Key findings are that most of the same selection procedures that ranked high in prior summaries remain high in rank, but with mean validity estimates reduced by .10-.20 points. Structured interviews emerged as the top-ranked selection procedure. We also pair validity estimates with information about mean Black-White subgroup differences per selection procedure, providing information about validity-diversity tradeoffs. We conclude that our selection procedures remain useful, but selection predictor-criterion relationships are considerably lower than previously thought. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Differentiated measurement of conscientiousness and emotional stability in an occupational context – greater effort or greater benefit?

ABSTRACT Conscientiousness and emotional stability are two general predictors of different vocational and occupational outcomes, such as job performance. There is evidence that both personality constructs can be subdivided into two different aspects, which are better predictors for vocational and occupational outcomes compared to the global measures. Therefore, the “Arbeitsbezogene Belastbarkeits- und Gewissenhaftigkeitsskalen” (ABGS) were developed to measure the two aspects of conscientiousness (industriousness and orderliness) and emotional stability (social-interactive and continuous). Further, compared with other personality inventories, items of the ABGS refer to job-related characteristics, and are therefore useful to measure their aspects in an organizational context of personnel selection and potential detection processes in order to predict job-related outcomes. In the present two studies, with a total of 5972 participants, we determined positive relationships between the ABGS and vocational success for the two sub-samples of trainees with a commercial (N= 2826) and technical (N= 2674) focus (Study 1). Furthermore, there is evidence for the relationship between ABGS and occupational success in the two sub-samples of Study 2 with line managers (N= 345) and top managers (N= 127). The results show incremental validity of the ABGS over established personality inventories (up to 21%) and over cognitive abilities (up to 24%) that are also good predictors for vocational and occupational success. The ABGS further form the basis for ongoing research to develop a job-related measurement of the other Big Five traits and its aspects (e.g., agreeableness with its aspects compassion and politeness).

Effects of applicant response distortion on the relationship between personality trait scores and cognitive ability

This study examined differences in the psychometric scale properties of scores from a personality inventory as a function of cognitive ability when administered in low-stakes (incumbent employees; N = 1108) vs. high-stakes (job applicants; N = 79,339) testing contexts. Based on the idea that applicant response distortion increases trait score means and covariance and that cognitive ability is related to successful distortion, mean scores and loadings on a bifactor model were compared across groups that differed in motivation and ability to distort responses on the personality inventory. Results indicated that mean trait scores and loadings on a common factor were higher for the applicants than the incumbents. In addition, there was a positive linear trend relating cognitive ability to increases in scale scores and common factor loadings in the applicant sample; the observed changes in structure are a noted departure from what has often been found with regard to the differentiation of personality by intelligence hypothesis. Implications are discussed in terms of use of personality inventories in personnel selection contexts.

Cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence and personality types as predictors of job performance: Exploring a model for personnel selection

Orientation: The process of personnel selection is essential for organisations because it ensures that only those candidates who are likely to contribute to the economic value of an organisation are chosen to fill job vacancies.Research purpose: This research sought to explore cognitive intelligence (CI), ability emotional intelligence (ability EI), trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and personality types as predictors of job performance with the view to propose a valid selection model for the Zimbabwean organisational context.Motivation for the study: In the personnel selection context, separate studies investigated the single predictive power of the constructs relevant to the study in different settings and studies. The role of personality types in selection is especially under-researched.Research approach, design and method: The study utilised a cross-sectional survey design. The convenience sample constituted (N = 299) supervisory and professionally qualified, experienced specialists from various organisations in Zimbabwe. The GAMA, AES, WEIS, MBTI, Form M and JPS were administered.Main findings: Structural equation modelling indicated CI as the best predictor of job performance, followed by ability EI and then by personality types. Trait EI could not account for any variance in job performance.Practical implications/managerial implications: Personnel selection models in the Zimbabwean context could consider including the empirically demonstrated variables in selection practices.Contribution/value-add: The research advanced personnel selection theory by empirically and scientifically identifying the core elements of, and proposing a personnel selection model for use by human resources practitioners and organisations in the African context.

The signalling effects of nonconforming dress style in personnel selection contexts: do applicants’ qualifications matter?

ABSTRACT For job applicants to achieve their goal of making a favourable impression on recruiters, they need to be responsive to the social norms that a personnel selection setting prescribes. One clear social norm in selection contexts is professional dress. Here we explore the consequences that follow from failing to conform to this normative dress code. Specifically, in two studies, we test three contrasting theoretical accounts concerning the effects of nonconformity in dress style on hirability perceptions. We found evidence that the exact impact of dress style depends on the applicant’s qualifications. Whereas low-qualified applicants were punished for dressing in a nonconforming way, high-qualified applicants were granted leeway when violating norms of attire. In Study 2 we replicated and explored three possible mediators of this effect – perceptions of warmth, competence, and power – and found some (very weak) evidence that the observed interaction effect was mediated by perceptions of power. Consistent with the notion of idiosyncrasy credits, our results indicate that highly qualified applicants enjoy greater leeway to flout social norms without facing negative consequences.

Option weights should be determined empirically and not by experts when assessing knowledge with multiple‐choice items

AbstractMultiple‐choice tests are frequently used in personnel selection contexts to measure knowledge and abilities. Option weighting is an alternative multiple‐choice scoring procedure that awards partial credit for incomplete knowledge reflected in applicants’ distractor choices. We investigated whether option weights should be based on expert judgment or on empirical data when trying to outperform conventional number‐right scoring in terms of reliability and validity. To obtain generalizable results, we used repeated random sub‐sampling validation and found that empirical option weighting, but not expert option weighting, increased the reliability of a knowledge test. Neither option weighting procedure improved test validity. We recommend to improve the reliability of existing ability and knowledge tests used for personnel selection by computing and publishing empirical option weights.

Dress to Impress: The Effects of Nonconformist Dress Style in Personnel Selection Contexts

The so called “red sneakers effect” refers to people’s inclination to infer status and competence from signals of nonconformity. In the current research we explore an untested possible boundary con...

Not So Black and White: Understanding Group Differences in Academic Performance

This study examined race and gender group differences in academic performance measures that are widely used in college admissions and personnel selection contexts. Each of the study variables (e.g., SAT, high school GPA, and college GPA) were examined over time, but the group differences in GPA were significantly lower than other assessments used in employment. The findings reveal that women across two ethnic groups performed better than men in academic outcomes that should result in a higher rate of selection success when GPA is used. The implications for personnel strategies are discussed with suggestions for future research.

Cheating on Unproctored Internet Test Applications: An Analysis of a Verification Test in a Real Personnel Selection Context.

This study analyses the extent to which cheating occurs in a real selection setting. A two-stage, unproctored and proctored, test administration was considered. Test score inconsistencies were concluded by applying a verification test (Guo and Drasgow Z-test). An initial simulation study showed that the Z-test has adequate Type I error and power rates in the specific selection settings explored. A second study applied the Z-test statistic verification procedure to a sample of 954 employment candidates. Additional external evidence based on item time response to the verification items was gathered. The results revealed a good performance of the Z-test statistic and a relatively low, but non-negligible, number of suspected cheaters that showed higher distorted ability estimates. The study with real data provided additional information on the presence of suspected cheating in unproctored applications and the viability of using item response times as an additional evidence of cheating. In the verification test, suspected cheaters spent 5.78 seconds per item more than expected considering the item difficulty and their assumed ability in the unproctored stage. We found that the percentage of suspected cheaters in the empirical study could be estimated at 13.84%. In summary, the study provides evidence of the usefulness of the Z-test in the detection of cheating in a specific setting, in which a computerized adaptive test for assessing English grammar knowledge was used for personnel selection.

How the Influence of Unethical Leaders on Followers Is Affected by Their Implicit Followership Theories

Our research examines the role of followers in unethical leadership. Drawing on a social–cognitive approach to leadership and recent research in the field of behavioral ethics, we focus on how leader behavior and follower information processing interact to produce unethical outcomes. In two experimental studies simulating a personnel selection context, we examine to what extent individual implicit assumptions regarding the follower role (i.e., implicit followership theories, IFTs) relate to employees’ tendency to comply with leader unethical suggestions. In Study 1, controlling for possible alternative explanations such as personal need for structure, romance of leadership, and moral disengagement, we found that the IFT Good Citizen increased and the IFT Insubordination decreased followers’ tendencies to contribute to unethical leadership. In Study 2, we varied the leader’s unethical suggestions to further investigate the conditions under which these effects occur and included authoritarianism as an additional control variable. Overall, our findings suggest that IFTs make a unique contribution to our understanding of the role of followers in unethical leadership, and that this contribution depends on the way leaders frame their unethical request. Interaction effects suggest that follower characteristics need to be considered as they are embedded in specific situational settings rather than as isolated traits.

Different ways new information technologies influence conventional organizational practices and employment relationships: The case of cybervetting for personnel selection

Cybervetting – employers’ use of online information from social media and search engines to evaluate job candidates – may displace, supplement or shape conventional personnel selection and employment relationships in unexpected ways. Analysis of 45 interviews suggests that typically extractive approaches to cybervetting have the potential to displace less recognized, yet valuable, relational functions of more interactive practices depending on the functions and values users apply to the adoption and use of particular information and communication technologies. These findings highlight the need to consider how people implicitly and explicitly compare the functions of emerging technology-enabled practices with conventional organizational practices and salient values to understand when an emerging practice may displace, supplement or have no effect on a conventional practice. This study offers a preliminary framework for understanding how emerging sociotechnical practices evolve and with what effect, thereby providing insight into information and communication technology adoption and use beyond personnel selection contexts. It also suggests the emergence of a type of parasocial employment relationship should employers conflate interacting with applicants’ information with interacting with applicants themselves.

Investigating the nomological network of multitasking ability in a field sample

This study explores the correlates of multitasking ability, as measured by a commercially developed test that has been used for high stakes personnel selection contexts with more traditional predictors (i.e., personality and cognitive ability) in an organizational sample. Multitasking ability exhibited differential relationships with the cognitive and non-cognitive variables. That is, multitasking ability was found to be strongly positively related to cognitive ability, and negatively related to conscientiousness. Based on a multiple regression and relative weights analysis, cognitive ability proved to be the only significant unique predictor of multitasking ability. Results and implications for the use of multitasking ability assessments in a selection context are discussed.

A trial studying approach to predict college achievement.

We argue that using trial studying is a reliable and valid way to select students for higher education. This method is based on a work sample approach often used in personnel selection contexts. We discuss that this method has predictive validity for study success, has high acceptance by stakeholders, and measures self-regulation in a high-stakes testing context that cannot be measured through self-report questionnaires. We suggest further research to implement this method to select students.

Testing the generalizability of indirect range restriction corrections.

Range restriction is a common problem in personnel selection and other contexts in applied psychology. For many years researchers have used corrections that assume range restriction was direct, even when it was known that range restriction was indirect. Hunter, Schmidt, and Le (2006) proposed a new correction for cases of indirect range restriction that greatly increases its potential usefulness due to its reduced information requirements compared to alternatives. The current study examines the applicability of Hunter et al.'s correction to settings where its assumed structural model is violated by including the measures that are to be involved in corrections in the original selection composite. We conclude that Hunter et al.'s correction should generally be preferred when compared to its common alternative, Thorndike's Case II correction for direct range restriction. However, this is due to the likely violation of one of the other assumptions of the Hunter et al. correction in most applied settings. Correction mechanisms and practical implications are discussed.

Revised NEO Personality Inventory normative data for police officer selection.

The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) has demonstrated utility in the personnel selection context. Its use in police officer selection has been relatively limited, in part, because there are no published normative data for the NEO PI-R for police officer applicants. The authors present normative data on NEO PI-R domain and facet scores for a large sample (N = 288) of police officer applicants in a large, urban, Midwestern police department who completed the NEO PI-R as part of a preemployment psychological evaluation. Applicants reported low levels of Neuroticism and high levels of Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness scores were strongly and consistently correlated with the Positive Presentation Management (PPM) research validity scale of the NEO PI-R. Extraversion and Agreeableness scores were moderately and less consistently correlated with PPM. These data may serve as a normative comparison group for professionals and researchers who use or may want to use the NEO PI-R in the police officer selection context.

Using Cumulative Sum Statistics to Detect Inconsistencies in Unproctored Internet Testing

Unproctored Internet Testing (UIT) is becoming more popular in personnel recruitment and selection. A drawback of UIT is that cheating is easy and, therefore, a proctored test is often administered after an UIT procedure. To detect inconsistent test scores from UIT, a cumulative sum procedure (CUSUM) is proposed. This procedure is applied to empirical data from an adaptive computer-based test in a real personnel selection context. The usefulness of the CUSUM is illustrated, and the unique contribution of the CUSUM to existing procedures is discussed.

The effect of time constraints and personality facets on general cognitive ability (GCA) assessment

General cognitive ability (GCA) is a recognized construct for predicting job performance and capacity to learn. However, it has recently been argued that the time constraints under which GCA is assessed might provoke test anxiety, which negatively biases GCA scores. This can then lead to erroneous rejection of qualified candidates in personnel hiring contexts. This paper aimed to investigate: (1) to what extent candidates’ GCA scores increase when tested without time constraints and the ability of this GCA score to predict job performance; and (2) the personality characteristics that hinder GCA test performance under time constraints. Results from two field studies conducted in an actual personnel selection context partially confirmed the hypotheses. They revealed that, aside from the improvement of all candidates’ GCA scores when time constraint was removed, only GCA assessed without time constraints predicts job performance. Furthermore, while all candidates’ scores were influenced by the time constraint condition, individuals who are anxious, low-impulse, low value-questioning and deliberating are more penalized by the time constraint condition of such testing and, thus, are more likely to be erroneously eliminated in a selection process.