The use of personality measures in personnel selection: What does current research support?☆

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Abstract

With an eye toward research and practice, this article reviews and evaluates main trends that have contributed to the increasing use of personality assessment in personnel selection. Research on the ability of personality to predict job performance is covered, including the Five Factor Model of personality versus narrow personality measures, meta-analyses of personality–criterion relationships, moderator effects, mediator effects, and incremental validity of personality over other selection testing methods. Personality and team performance is also covered. Main trends in contemporary research on the extent to which applicant “faking” of personality tests poses a serious threat are explicated, as are promising approaches for contending with applicant faking such as the “faking warning” and the forced-choice method of personality assessment. Finally, internet-based assessment of personality and computer adaptive personality testing are synopsized.

Section snippets

Current use of personality measures in personnel selection

Although we can find no reports of research using systematic sampling procedures to determine with any measure of certainty the extent that personality measures are currently being used by organizations as part of their personnel selection practices, a number of surveys of human resource professionals, organizational usage, and industry reports may be combined to provide a reasonably good picture of the degree that such measures are being used. A survey conducted of recruiters in 2003 indicated

Are personality measures valid predictors of job performance? A brief summary of the meta-analytic evidence

The impetus for the numerous meta-analytic studies of personality–job performance relations has most often been based on an influential review of the available research at the time by Guion and Gottier (1965). On the basis of their narrative review, Guion and Gottier concluded that there was little evidence for the validity of personality measures in personnel selection. In the decades following the publication of this paper hundreds of research articles challenged this conclusion and attempted

The impact of the FFM on personality–job performance research

The FFM of personality structure has had a deep impact on personality–job performance research since the series of meta-analytic studies of the 1990s provided support for the use of personality measures in personnel selection. Mount and Barrick (1995) observed that it was the widespread acceptance of the FFM that created much of the optimism for the renewed interest in relations between personality and job performance. “The importance of this taxonomy cannot be overstated as the availability of

Research on faking and personality assessment: cause for optimism

As discussed, in the early 1990s it was established that personality tests are valid predictors of job performance (Barrick and Mount, 1991, Tett et al., 1991). Since that time, it is arguable that the most pervasive concern HR practitioners have had regarding the use of personality testing in personnel selection is that applicants may strategically “fake” their responses and thereby gravely reduce the usefulness of personality scores (e.g., Christiansen et al., 2005, Goffin and Christiansen,

Internet-based assessment of personality

Some have heralded this “the decade of the internet in personnel selection” (Salgado & Moscoso, 2003, p. 194). Accordingly, it would be an understatement to say that the internet has contributed to, and holds great promise for, the continuing growth of personality assessment in personnel selection applications (Stanton, 1999). On a very practical level, internet administration may reduce missing data, allow 24/7 administration of personality tests worldwide, and facilitate instantaneous access

Summary and conclusions

On the basis of our review of recent research on the use of personality measures in personnel selection, we believe the following conclusions are warranted.

  • 1.

    Numerous meta-analytic studies on personality-job performance relations conducted in the 1990s repeatedly demonstrated that personality measures contribute to the prediction of job performance criteria and if used appropriately, may add value to personnel selection practices.

  • 2.

    Organizations are increasingly using personality measures as a

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    ☆

    Preparation of this article was supported by grants from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to Mitchell G. Rothstein and Richard D. Goffin.

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