Training to Reduce the Use of Irrelevant Information in Personnel Selection

1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary J. Gaeth ◽  
James Shanteau
1994 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis R. Gibbs ◽  
Matt L. Riggs

173 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Group 1 ( n = 43) received a description of general objective criteria for the job of police officer. Group 2 ( n = 43) received additional information describing variables relevant to the valid prediction of job performance and were instructed to pay attention to those variables. Group 3 ( n = 46) received additional information describing those variables not valid for job selection and were instructed to attend to those. Group 4 ( n = 41) received the descriptions of and instructions to focus on both relevant and irrelevant variables. All subjects then rated 4 fictitious job applicants on the basis of application materials that were manipulated in reference to both their relevant/valid qualifications and their irrelevant/stereotypical fit to the job. Analysis indicated that subjects attending to irrelevant information rated applicants more objectively. Assuming these results generalize to cognitive processes that occur among actual personnel managers, findings suggest that training raters to attend to rather than ignore irrelevant information may help reduce bias in personnel selection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-140
Author(s):  
Robert Busching ◽  
Johannes Lutz

Abstract. Legally irrelevant information like facial features is used to form judgments about rape cases. Using a reverse-correlation technique, it is possible to visualize criminal stereotypes and test whether these representations influence judgments. In the first step, images of the stereotypical faces of a rapist, a thief, and a lifesaver were generated. These images showed a clear distinction between the lifesaver and the two criminal representations, but the criminal representations were rather similar. In the next step, the images were presented together with rape scenarios, and participants (N = 153) indicated the defendant’s level of liability. Participants with high rape myth acceptance scores attributed a lower level of liability to a defendant who resembled a stereotypical lifesaver. However, no specific effects of the image of the stereotypical rapist compared to the stereotypical thief were found. We discuss the findings with respect to the influence of visual stereotypes on legal judgments and the nature of these mental representations.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Greasley

It has been estimated that graphology is used by over 80% of European companies as part of their personnel recruitment process. And yet, after over three decades of research into the validity of graphology as a means of assessing personality, we are left with a legacy of equivocal results. For every experiment that has provided evidence to show that graphologists are able to identify personality traits from features of handwriting, there are just as many to show that, under rigorously controlled conditions, graphologists perform no better than chance expectations. In light of this confusion, this paper takes a different approach to the subject by focusing on the rationale and modus operandi of graphology. When we take a closer look at the academic literature, we note that there is no discussion of the actual rules by which graphologists make their assessments of personality from handwriting samples. Examination of these rules reveals a practice founded upon analogy, symbolism, and metaphor in the absence of empirical studies that have established the associations between particular features of handwriting and personality traits proposed by graphologists. These rules guide both popular graphology and that practiced by professional graphologists in personnel selection.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiebke Goertz ◽  
Ute R. Hülsheger ◽  
Günter W. Maier

General mental ability (GMA) has long been considered one of the best predictors of training success and considerably better than specific cognitive abilities (SCAs). Recently, however, researchers have provided evidence that SCAs may be of similar importance for training success, a finding supporting personnel selection based on job-related requirements. The present meta-analysis therefore seeks to assess validities of SCAs for training success in various occupations in a sample of German primary studies. Our meta-analysis (k = 72) revealed operational validities between ρ = .18 and ρ = .26 for different SCAs. Furthermore, results varied by occupational category, supporting a job-specific benefit of SCAs.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Sliter ◽  
Neil D. Christiansen

The present study evaluated the impact of reading self-coaching book excerpts on success at faking a personality test. Participants (N = 207) completed an initial honest personality assessment and a subsequent assessment with faking instructions under one of the following self-coaching conditions: no coaching, chapters from a commercial book on how to fake preemployment personality scales, and personality coaching plus a chapter on avoiding lie-detection scales. Results showed that those receiving coaching materials had greater success in raising their personality scores, primarily on the traits that had been targeted in the chapters. In addition, those who read the chapter on avoiding lie-detection scales scored significantly lower on a popular impression management scale while simultaneously increasing their personality scores. Implications for the use of personality tests in personnel selection are discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Jansen ◽  
Cornelius J. König ◽  
Eveline H. Stadelmann ◽  
Martin Kleinmann

This study contributes to the literature on self-presentation by comparing recruiters’ expectations about applicants’ self-presentational behaviors in personnel selection settings to applicants’ actual use of these behaviors. Recruiters (N = 51) rated the perceived appropriateness of 24 self-presentational behaviors. In addition, the prevalence of these behaviors was separately assessed in two subsamples of applicants (N1 = 416 and N2 = 88) with the randomized response technique. In line with the script concept, the results revealed that recruiters similarly evaluated the appropriateness of specific self-presentational behaviors and that applicants’ general use of these behaviors corresponded to recruiters’ shared expectations. The findings indicate that applicants who use strategic self-presentational behaviors may just be trying to fulfill situational requirements.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. O’Neill ◽  
Richard D. Goffin ◽  
Ian R. Gellatly

In this study we assessed whether the predictive validity of personality scores is stronger when respondent test-taking motivation (TTM) is higher rather than lower. Results from a field sample comprising 269 employees provided evidence for this moderation effect for one trait, Steadfastness. However, for Conscientiousness, valid criterion prediction was only obtained at low levels of TTM. Thus, it appears that TTM relates to the criterion validity of personality testing differently depending on the personality trait assessed. Overall, these and additional findings regarding the nomological net of TTM suggest that it is a unique construct that may have significant implications when personality assessment is used in personnel selection.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T. Stuss ◽  
Malcolm A. Binns ◽  
Kelly J. Murphy ◽  
Michael P. Alexander

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