The Role of Personality Tests in Employment Selection

Abstract

I had never thought about the importance of personality testing before taking psychology classes. I had never been given one before job interviews, but that is because I had not gone on a job interview in the corporate world for well over 20 years. The use of personality tests for employment purposes has grown considerably in the past ten years (Cavico, Mujtaba, Lawrence, & Muffler, 2015). Based on what I know regarding personality tests, they can be a valuable way to determine how well a potential hire will fit into a company. It makes sense to assess whether a position is a good fit for a potential employee since there are benefits to all involved. An employee will likely feel more job satisfaction if they have a job they are well suited for and as a result, will be more inclined to hold the position for an extended period. This can reduce the employee turnover rate, which benefits the employer. While the above statements support the use of personality tests in the workplace, there are drawbacks. Tests are usually self-report measures that utilize the Likert scale or forced answer questions. These measures can be faked with individuals answering how they believe a potential employer would like (Morgenson, Campion, Diboye, Hollenbeck, Murphy, & Schmitt, 2007). They are also not perfect predictors of work performance, although high ratings for Conscientiousness on the Big Five personality measure do have a modest correlation with performance (Hurtz & Donovan, 2000). It can be argued that personality tests have value for predicting employee fit; however, individuals are human, and other factors may enter into the equation. As was discussed by Dr. Griffith in his lecture “What is personality,” some potential employees might not know themselves well enough to give accurate answers. They may be well-suited for...