Inflation bias in self-assessment examinations: Implications for valid employee selection.

Abstract

Self-assessment examinations were administered to job applicants for 13 different occupational classes These examinations were composed of lists of tasks that were either job-related as determined by a job analysis or bogus but superficially resembling the job-related tasks Applicants were asked to rate the extent of their training and experience on each task Analysis of these ratings revealed that inflation bias was prevalent and pervasive. A subsequent test of five clerical classes demonstrated that inflation bias was negatively associated with an external performance measure. Two solutions for correcting for inflation bias were examined. Both were demonstrated to be sound procedures for reducing inflation bias and have the potential for enhancing test validity.Requests for reprints should be sent to the Selection Center,

Factors related to psychotherapists' self-assessment when treating anxiety and other disorders

“…Walfish et al's (2012) findings, it is evident that psychological therapists overestimate both their individual skill level and their therapy Self-assessment bias 14 outcomes relative to their peers. This self-assessment bias is not unique to therapists, but occurs in many domains of human activity (e.g., Anderson et al, 1984). A potential cause of such a bias is the need to maintain a positive self-image.…”

“…Indeed, no clinicians saw their skill level as being below the 50 th centile, meaning that no-one saw themselves as being below the average level of skill. This overestimation of ability is found in a range of skills, such as driving and job performance (e.g., Anderson, Warner, & Spencer, 1984;Meyer, 1990), and is known as 'self-assessment bias'. Furthermore, when asking these clinicians about how many of their patients recovered or improved, Walfish et al (2012) found that clinicians believe that most of their clients recover after therapy.…”

Measuring cognitive ability with the overclaiming technique

“…Also related is an early study by Anderson, Warner, and Spencer (1984), where a comparable method was used to measure occupation-specific knowledge among job applicants. It is unfor-tunate that this work has not been exploited in the measurement of tacit intelligence (Sternberg, Wagner, & Okagaki, 1993).…”

Implicit theories go applied: Conception of ability at work

“…Research has shown incumbents and applicants respond differently when answering preemployment questionnaires (Anderson, Warner, & Spencer, 1984). Although Dweck et al (1995) demonstrated that conception of ability was not related to social desirability, those results…”