Test-retest stability of interaction patterns during interviews conducted one week apart.

Using a standardized psychiatric interview, a single examiner interviewed 20 patients in test-retest interviews 7 days apart. Interaction was measured with Chapple's interaction chronograph. Interaction patterns are stable over the test period, and "can be predictably modified… by planned changes in the interviewer's behavior." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interviewer consistency in the use of empathic models in personnel selection.

Personnel selection interviewers predicted the responses of applicants to 2 paper and pencil tests. Comparisons were made between these predictions and the responses of applicants (accuracy score), predictions and the responses of interviewers (similarity score). (These scores were referred to collectively as empathy scores.) Statistical analysis of empathy scores and their components indicated marked inter-interviewer inconsistency, which was interpreted to mean that interviewers tend to make errors by resorting to empathy as a basis of decision making. Explicit, actuarial bases of decision making in interviewing are advocated. Results of a follow-up study supported this interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faking and personality assessment in personnel selection: Advancing models of faking.

Personality testing is a particularly valuable preemployment assessment tool when one matches personality traits to job requirements. The authors explain that, unlike most other common personnel selection methods, the unique value of personality assessment in personnel selection stems from its tendency to predict the choice to perform, or “will-do” aspects of job performance. The effect of faking on the value of personality testing is discussed, and the authors suggest that personality testing’s contribution to personnel selection could be leveraged if more were known about the psychological process underlying applicant faking behaviour. To this end, the authors present an improved general model of the applicant faking process as well as a new “faking decision tree.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Defining the perceived functions of purchasing personnel.

To identify the functions performed by a purchasing division as perceived by company employees using the purchasing service, a 42-item mail-out questionnaire was constructed from intensive interviews. Questionnaire responses were factor analyzed by the centroid method and rotated to approximated simple structure. 8 factors were obtained, namely: buying supplies, equipment and services; protecting company's capital and assets; "customer" requisitioner activities; optimizing inventory; controlling risks in dealing with vendors; assuring the purchase of standard, high quality commodities; enforcing government regulations; and assuring vendor performance. Factor scores assumed to reflect importance as perceived by respondents showed low correlations with requisition frequency and average dollar value of the requisitions they submit. Factor scores averaged by company departments reflected considerable variation in assumed importance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality measurement, faking, and detection: An assessment method for use in personnel selection.

Usual methods for personality assessment have been found unsuitable for use in personnel selection contexts. An alternative method of item construction and of scoring key and detection scale development for personality inventories is proposed. Results of a double cross-validation study based on 456 male Ss using 3 newly developed forced-choice inventories indicate that (a) over 90% of the test performance can be correctly identified as self-report or faked, (b) mean score profiles under the 2 conditions for the 5 personality variables under study are virtually congruent and variances under the faking condition are uniformly smaller, (c) validities against peer-nomination criteria are in the moderate range for all 5 variables and (d) Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 reliabilities between .83 and .92 were obtained. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contribution of interview and situational performance procedures to the selection of supervisory personnel.

2 groups of supervisors (each N = 40), selected to be as similar as possible on a set of control predictor variables "known to be predictive of supervisory performance" (basic abilities test score, supervisory practices score, age, service, job level) and to be maximally different on criterion scores of supervisory effectiveness ratings, were used to try out 5 experimental supervisory performance predictors: panel interview, individual interview, group discussion problem, role playing situation, and small-job management. Each group was divided into a high and low subgroup on the basis of the control predictor variables. The predictor battery validity increased from an average of .27 for the control predictors alone to .30-.34 when various of the experimental predictors were added. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linguistic techniques and the analysis of emotionality in interviews.

In an attempt to analyze the degree of emotionality in the manner (as opposed to the content) of speech, excerpts from 6 interviews and a recording of a radio program were analyzed with regard to linguistic (junctures, stress, pitch) and paralinguistic phenomena (e.g., characteristic of vocalizations and voice quality). The therapeutic interviews were distinguished from the radio program conversation on the basis of linguistic phenomena only. However, linguistic phenomena were seen to be independent of emotional expressions contentwise. The results were interpreted in terms of the expression of emotion through content nonlanguage vocalizations. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4IF01D. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Defense Mechanism Test: A new method for diagnosis and personnel selection.

By throwing TAT pictures on a screen in varying degrees of light intensity, precognitive defence organization was used to screen 412 aviation cadets. Ss drew pictures of what they saw. Protocols were rated. Validity varied by rater. The DMT is likely to increase the validity of the total test battery. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction process analysis of the mediation of labor-management disputes.

"Interaction Process Analysis was applied to 12 recorded labor-management mediation cases. This was done with the purpose of exploring (a) whether findings obtained in somewhat artificial student groups could be replicated in this very different type of group, and (b) whether utilization of the method could be of some help in answering questions of real practical significance in the collective bargaining field. It was found that the extent to which a mediation session went through a hypothesized phase movement was of some validity in indicating the extent to which specific items in dispute between the parties were resolved. Secondly, it was found that ultimate success of the session could be partially predicted from the parties' state of mind when they embarked on the session… . Thirdly, it was found that the phase movement occurred generally in our cases." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Designing pareto-optimal selection systems: Formalizing the decisions required for selection system development.

The article presents an analytic method for designing Pareto-optimal selection systems where the applicants belong to a mixture of candidate populations. The method is useful in both applied and research settings. In an applied context, the present method is the first to assist the selection practitioner when deciding on 6 major selection design issues: (1) the predictor subset, (2) the selection rule, (3) the selection staging, (4) the predictor sequencing, (5) the predictor weighting, and (6) the stage retention decision issue. From a research perspective, the method offers a unique opportunity for studying the impact and relative importance of different strategies for reducing adverse impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconsidering vocational interests for personnel selection: The validity of an interest-based selection test in relation to job knowledge, job performance, and continuance intentions.

Although vocational interests have a long history in vocational psychology, they have received extremely limited attention within the recent personnel selection literature. We reconsider some widely held beliefs concerning the (low) validity of interests for predicting criteria important to selection researchers, and we review theory and empirical evidence that challenge such beliefs. We then describe the development and validation of an interests-based selection measure. Results of a large validation study (N = 418) reveal that interests predicted a diverse set of criteria—including measures of job knowledge, job performance, and continuance intentions—with corrected, cross-validated Rs that ranged from .25 to .46 across the criteria (mean R = .31). Interests also provided incremental validity beyond measures of general cognitive aptitude and facets of the Big Five personality dimensions in relation to each criterion. Furthermore, with a couple exceptions, the interest scales were associated with small to medium subgroup differences, which in most cases favored women and racial minorities. Taken as a whole, these results appear to call into question the prevailing thought that vocational interests have limited usefulness for selection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to a new series of interviews on the future of psychoanalysis.

When Elliot first took over as editor of Psychoanalytic Psychology and invited Jeremy to join the editorial board, we met for lunch to brainstorm about new directions for the journal. One of the schemes we hatched was the idea of developing a special issue consisting of articles by prominent figures in the field, reflecting on the future of psychoanalysis. This article discusses some of the details of this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of personnel selection.

Reviews the book, The psychology of personnel selection by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Adrian Furnham (see record 2010-05140-000). The authors have written an interesting and engaging book that focuses on personnel selection. This book would be a valuable resource for student training in industrial/organizational psychology. The overall organization of the book was appropriate. The methods of selection and constructs of selection provided a useful organizing framework. The information in each chapter was well organized and was presented clearly and succinctly. Introductory and concluding chapters would be helpful for the reader to identify the themes that are addressed in the book and to provide integration and future directions respectively. The authors’ enthusiasm for employee selection is evident throughout the book. It is my opinion that adding chapters on job analysis and the psychology of human behavior (i.e., individual differences) would help effectively establish the context for the selection tools to follow. It would also be helpful to review the criteria that organizations use to assess their selection tools and the organizational performance criteria that these tools have been designed to predict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Employment psychology: The interview.

Reviews the book "Employment psychology: The interview" by Roger M. Bellows and M. Frances Estep (see record 1955-01632-000). This text was "written for professional interviewers and for students of applied psychology who desire to become acquainted with the uses and limitations of the interview in selection of personnel." At the outset, the authors list requirements of self-training aimed at helping the interviewer to become more proficient. The emphasis then throughout the text is that the selection interview using the so-called talking methods alone lacks validity and utility. More objective selection material must be used in conjunction with the interview if selection is the goal. The reviewer would have liked to see discussed such related topics as occupational information and attitudes, age differences in job values, and pertinent information from the counseling field pertaining to the degree of leads various interviewers use. The presentation would have been more stimulating and complete, but it is well worth reading regardless. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The importance of distinguishing between constructs and methods when comparing predictors in personnel selection research and practice.

The authors highlight the importance and discuss the criticality of distinguishing between constructs and methods when comparing predictors. They note that comparisons of constructs and methods in comparative evaluations of predictors result in outcomes that are theoretically to conceptually uninterpretable and thus potentially misleading. The theoretical and practical implications of the distinction between predictor constructs and predictor methods are discussed, with three important streams of personnel psychology research being used to frame this discussion. Researchers, editors, reviewers, educators, and consumers of research are urged to carefully consider the extent to which the construct-method distinction is made and maintained in their own research and that of others, especially when predictors are being compared. It is hoped that this discussion will reorient researchers and practitioners toward a more construct-oriented approach that is aligned with a scientific emphasis in personnel selection research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of organizational citizenship behaviors on selection decisions in employment interviews.

This article reports on an experiment examining the effects of job candidates' propensity to exhibit organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) on selection decisions made in the context of a job interview. We developed videos that manipulated candidate responses to interview questions tapping task performance and citizenship behavior content in 2 administrative positions. Results obtained from 480 undergraduates provided support for our hypotheses that job candidates who exhibited higher levels of helping, voice, and loyalty behaviors were generally rated as more competent, received higher overall evaluations, and received higher salary recommendations than job candidates who exhibited lower levels of these behaviors. These effects held even after taking into account candidate responses regarding task performance. We also found that candidate responses to OCB-related questions tended to have a greater effect on selection decisions for the higher level position (supervisor of administrative personnel) than for the lower level one (administrative assistant). Finally, content analyses of open-ended responses indicated that participants' selection decisions were particularly sensitive to candidates who exhibited low levels of voice and helping behaviors. Implications and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality measurement, faking, and employment selection.

Real job applicants completed a 5-factor model personality measure as part of the job application process. They were rejected; 6 months later they (n = 5,266) reapplied for the same job and completed the same personality measure. Results indicated that 5.2% or fewer improved their scores on any scale on the 2nd occasion; moreover, scale scores were as likely to change in the negative direction as the positive. Only 3 applicants changed scores on all 5 scales beyond a 95% confidence threshold. Construct validity of the personality scales remained intact across the 2 administrations, and the same structural model provided an acceptable fit to the scale score matrix on both occasions. For the small number of applicants whose scores changed beyond the standard error of measurement, the authors found the changes were systematic and predictable using measures of social skill, social desirability, and integrity. Results suggest that faking on personality measures is not a significant problem in real-world selection settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)