Socially desirable responding and the factorial stability of the NEO PI-R

Assessing personality at risk in personnel selection and development

This paper demonstrates the validity and usefulness of a count technique to screen for potential personality dysfunctioning in NEO‐PI‐R ratings obtained in selection and professional development assessments. The usefulness of this screening technique for Industrial, Work and Organizational (IWO) psychologists is demonstrated in five different samples that were administered the NEO‐PI‐R for selection or development purposes. Three additional samples served as normative data to compute FFM PD count cut‐offs that can be used for selection and career development decisions. Evidence for the construct validity of 6 out of 10 FFM PD counts was provided, and all FFM PD compound scales were significantly related to important criteria, including the final selection decision, the results of a behaviourally oriented selection interview and self‐rated work competencies. The practical utility and limitations of this count technique for personnel selection and development are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Police interview competencies: assessment and associated traits

The present study empirically examines the structure of police interview competencies in self‐reports of 230 police investigators suggesting five major underlying dimensions, that is, ‘Careful‐tenacious’, ‘Controlled‐non‐reactive’, ‘Dominant‐insisting’, ‘Communicative’ and ‘Benevolent’. These dimensions discriminate performance in a series of interview vignettes, grouped in terms of type of case (interviewing a suspect, a witness or a victim) and type of suspect. In addition self‐ratings on these dimensions are related to self‐estimated interview effectiveness in the same vignettes. Participants are further administered the NEO PI‐R (Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Professional manual: Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO‐PI‐R) and NEO five‐factor‐inventory (NEO‐FFI). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources), enabling an examination of the relationship between the competence dimensions and their personality trait building blocks. The implications of this study for the development and coaching of police interview competencies are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Motivation and Opportunity for Socially Desirable Responding Does Not Alter the General Factor of Personality

Socially desirable responding may affect the factor structure of personality questionnaires and may be one of the reasons for the common variance among personality traits. In this study, we test this hypothesis by investigating the influence of the motivational test-taking context (development vs. selection) and the opportunity to distort responses (forced-choice vs. Likert response format) on personality questionnaire scores. Data from real selection and assessment candidates (total N = 3,980) matched on gender, age, and educational level were used. Mean score differences were found between the selection and development groups, with smaller differences for the FC version. Yet, exploratory structural equation models showed that the overall factor structures as well as the general factor were highly similar across the four groups. Thus, although socially desirable responding may affect mean scores on personality traits, it does not appear to affect factor structures. This study further suggests that the common variance in personality questionnaires is consistent and appears to be little influenced by motivational pressures for response distortion.

Response distortion on personality tests in applicants: comparing high-stakes to low-stakes medical settings

The current study examined the degree to which applicants applying for medical internships distort their responses to personality tests and assessed whether this response distortion led to reduced predictive validity. The applicant sample (n = 530) completed the NEO Personality Inventory whilst applying for one of 60 positions as first-year post-graduate medical interns. Predictive validity was assessed using university grades, averaged over the entire medical degree. Applicant responses for the Big Five (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) and 30 facets of personality were compared to a range of normative samples where personality was measured in standard research settings including medical students, role model physicians, current interns, and standard young-adult test norms. Applicants had substantially higher scores on conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and extraversion and lower scores on neuroticism with an average absolute standardized difference of 1.03, when averaged over the normative samples. While current interns, medical students, and especially role model physicians do show a more socially desirable personality profile than standard test norms, applicants provided responses that were substantially more socially desirable. Of the Big Five, conscientiousness was the strongest predictor of academic performance in both applicants (r = .11) and medical students (r = .21). Findings suggest that applicants engage in substantial response distortion, and that the predictive validity of personality is modest and may be reduced in an applicant setting.

Comparing Job Applicants to Non–Applicants Using An Item–Level Bifactor Model on the Hexaco Personality Inventory

The present study evaluated the ability of item–level bifactor models (a) to provide an alternative explanation to current theories of higher order factors of personality and (b) to explain socially desirable responding in both job applicant and non–applicant contexts. Participants (46% male; mean age = 42 years, SD = 11) completed the 200–item HEXACO Personality Inventory–Revised either as part of a job application ( n = 1613) or as part of low–stakes research ( n = 1613). A comprehensive set of invariance tests were performed. Applicants scored higher than non–applicants on honesty–humility ( d = 0.86), extraversion ( d = 0.73), agreeableness ( d = 1.06), and conscientiousness ( d = 0.77). The bifactor model provided improved model fit relative to a standard correlated factor model, and loadings on the evaluative factor of the bifactor model were highly correlated with other indicators of item social desirability. The bifactor model explained approximately two–thirds of the differences between applicants and non–applicants. Results suggest that rather than being a higher order construct, the general factor of personality may be caused by an item–level evaluative process. Results highlight the importance of modelling data at the item–level. Implications for conceptualizing social desirability, higher order structures in personality, test development, and job applicant faking are discussed. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

Dark side of personality, intelligence, creativity, and managerial level

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of the Five-Factor Model Personality Disorder (FFM PD) count technique to industrial, work, and organizational (IWO) criteria. In this vein, the present research sought to extend previous studies (e.g. De Fruyt et al., 2009) by eliminating common method variance, and by including several objectively assessed IWO criteria, namely, managerial level, intelligence, and creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

– In total, 1,659 working adults reported their managerial level in their organization, and completed two intelligence tests, a measure of creativity, and a measure of the Big Five personality traits in an assessment centre. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– Results showed that the FFM PD counts were significantly associated with each IWO criteria. Results also show that specific linear combinations of Five-Factor Model facets can explain a larger proportion of the variance in these criteria. Finally, normative benchmark values are provided and validated for personnel development contexts in the UK.

Research limitations/implications

– Because the FFM PD score-distributions were limited to one assessment setting (medium stakes) only, the use of proposed benchmarks may not be appropriate for other contexts.

Practical implications

– Considering the mounting evidence in the area, assessing dark side traits is likely to be desirable for organizations – particularly in selection and development settings.

Originality/value

– This study is the first to demonstrate the validity of the FFM PD count technique in relation to objectively measured IWO criteria.

Measuring individuals' response quality in self-administered psychological tests: an introduction to Gendre's functional method

The functional method is a new test theory using a new scoring method that assumes complexity in test structure, and thus takes into account every correlation between factors and items. The main specificity of the functional method is to model test scores by multiple regression instead of estimating them by using simplistic sums of points. In order to proceed, the functional method requires the creation of hyperspherical measurement space, in which item responses are expressed by their correlation with orthogonal factors. This method has three main qualities. First, measures are expressed in the absolute metric of correlations; therefore, items, scales and persons are expressed in the same measurement space using the same single metric. Second, factors are systematically orthogonal and without errors, which is optimal in order to predict other outcomes. Such predictions can be performed to estimate how one would answer to other tests, or even to model one's response strategy if it was perfectly coherent. Third, the functional method provides measures of individuals' response validity (i.e., control indices). Herein, we propose a standard procedure in order to identify whether test results are interpretable and to exclude invalid results caused by various response biases based on control indices.

Short assessment of the Big Five: robust across survey methods except telephone interviewing

We examined measurement invariance and age-related robustness of a short 15-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-S) of personality dimensions, which is well suited for applications in large-scale multidisciplinary surveys. The BFI-S was assessed in three different interviewing conditions: computer-assisted or paper-assisted face-to-face interviewing, computer-assisted telephone interviewing, and a self-administered questionnaire. Randomized probability samples from a large-scale German panel survey and a related probability telephone study were used in order to test method effects on self-report measures of personality characteristics across early, middle, and late adulthood. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used in order to test for measurement invariance of the five-factor model of personality trait domains across different assessment methods. For the short inventory, findings suggest strong robustness of self-report measures of personality dimensions among young and middle-aged adults. In old age, telephone interviewing was associated with greater distortions in reliable personality assessment. It is concluded that the greater mental workload of telephone interviewing limits the reliability of self-report personality assessment. Face-to-face surveys and self-administrated questionnaire completion are clearly better suited than phone surveys when personality traits in age-heterogeneous samples are assessed.

Assessing the Impact of Faking on Binary Personality Measures: An IRT-Based Multiple-Group Factor Analytic Procedure

This article proposes a model-based multiple-group procedure for assessing the impact of faking on personality measures and the scores derived from these measures. The assessment is at the item level and the base model, which is intended for binary items, can be parameterized both as an Item Response Theory (IRT) model and as an Item Factor-Analytic (FA) model. The specific solution proposed is bidimensional, and the propensity to fake is specifically modeled as a second factor. The approach we propose allows (a) previous separate results obtained either from IRT-based or from FA-based studies to be related and (b) some hypotheses on measurement invariance and structural changes to be assessed in more detail. The procedure was used in a study based on 2 personality scales that were administered in 1 group under standard instructions and in another group under faking-good instructions. For both scales, results suggested that strong measurement invariance was attained. Also, for both scales substantial mean changes were obtained in the propensity-to-fake factor but not in the content factors. The implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.