Applicant reactions and faking in real‐life personnel selection

Abstract

Faking may affect hiring decisions in personnel selection. All the antecedents of faking are still not known. The present study investigates the association between applicants' reactions about the selection procedure and their tendency to fake. The subjects (N = 180) were real-life applicants for a fire and rescue personnel school. After completing the selection process, the applicants filled out a questionnaire about their test reactions (Chan, Schmitt, Sacco & DeSohon, 1998b) and a faking scale, the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (Paulhus, 1991). The results based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) indicated that the more positive reactions applicant had about the selection procedure the more impression management they had. The applicant reactions were not associated with self-deception.

Personality Types and Applicant Reactions in Real‐life Selection

“…Fairness perceptions refer to the degree to which the test seems to be fair and just. Together, they represent the overall favorability of perceptions toward the test or selection procedure, that is, applicant reactions (Chan & Schmitt, 2004;Honkaniemi, Tolvanen, & Feldt, 2011). The first two facets, face validity and perceived predictive validity, concern the perceived job relatedness of the tests (Chan, Schmitt, Jennings, Clause, & Delbridge, 1998;Gilliland & Chan, 2001), and they refer mostly to the external formal characteristics of the process.…”

What is Applicant Faking Behavior? A Review on the Current State of Theory and Modeling Techniques

“…Studies using item response theory (IRT) models (O'Brien & LaHuis, 2011;Robie, Zickar, & Schmit, 2001;Scherbaum, Sabet, Kern, & Agnello, 2013;Zickar et al, 2004) and/or structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques (Honkaniemi, Tolvanen, & Feldt, 2011 2012; Ziegler & Buehner, 2009;Ziegler et al, 2015) have found that faking behavior differs between tests, items and individuals, and is hard to disentangle. Additionally, examining response latencies has provided insights into response processes (Holden, Kroner, Fekken, & Popham, 1992;Holden & Lambert, 2015;Komar, Komar, Robie, & Taggar, 2010).…”

Testing the Level of Social Desirability During Job Interview on White-Collar Profession

“…Moreover, it is an important and substantive trait, which relates to a range of responses and behaviors in research, as well as, in the real world ( Fleming, 2012 ). The tendency to influence self-representation and correspondingly results of the interview was found across cultures ( Ones et al, 1996 ; Viswesvaran et al, 2001 ; Pauls and Crost, 2005 ; Honkaniemi et al, 2011 ).…”

“…The pattern of responses are measured using the Paulhaus’ Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1984 ). The BIDR method is often used in research as an additional scale of personality testing ( Booth-Kewley et al, 1992 ; Porter et al, 2000 ; Honkaniemi et al, 2011 ). For example, a study done by Finish researchers ( Honkaniemi et al, 2011 ) investigated school applicants and their evaluations of selection procedures and post-completion questionnaires concerning the level of social desirability.…”