The Impact of Applicant Faking on Selection Measures, Hiring Decisions, and Employee Performance

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

“…For example, to get classified as having faked extremely in qualitative analysis, a respondent has to undermine the test's measurement properties so much that θ (person parameter estimate) no longer relates to option thresholds (Zickar et al, 2004). In quantitative analysis, only large deviations from honest scores are classified as extreme faking (Donovan, Dwight, & Schneider, 2014;Griffith et al, 2007). Therefore, ceiling effects occur as respondents scoring high on a trait cannot deviate as much as respondents with low honest scores.…”

“…Another issue of practical research is the simplification of faking as an attempt of score maximization. Respondents are classified by the amount their test score rises between honest and application conditions (Donovan et al, 2014;Griffith et al, 2007;Peterson, Griffith, & Converse, 2009). The bigger the score difference the more extreme the faking.…”

How Emotional Intelligence Might Get You the Job: The Relationship Between Trait Emotional Intelligence and Faking on Personality Tests

“…More recent research indicated how faking can negatively affect the validity of personality test scores (Bing, Kluemper, Davison, Taylor, & Novicevic, 2011;Donovan, Dwight, & Schneider, 2014;Douglas, McDaniel, & Snell, 1996;Holden, 2007Holden, , 2008O'Connell, Kung, & Tristan, 2011;Peterson, Griffith, Isaacson, O'Connell, & Mangos, 2011). In these studies, criterion validities were generally lower among participants who could be assumed to be faking (e.g., applicants) compared to those who were likely to respond truthfully (e.g., incumbents).…”

“…Yet whether this poses a genuine problem for the test's predictive validity-and the hiring organization-of course ultimately depends on whether those applicants who faked (and by result were hired) perform poorly on the job (Donovan et al, 2014). Some studies have indicated that this need not necessarily be the case by showing how faking can have a positive effect on personality validities by showing higher validities under conditions in which faking is likely to occur (e.g., Blickle, Momm, Schneider, Gansen, & Kramer, 2009;Ingold, Kleinmann, König, & Melchers, 2015;Klehe, Kleinmann, Nieß, & Grazi, 2014;Schmit, Ryan, Stierwalt, & Powell, 1995).…”

Have admissions committees considered all the evidence?

“…Within the personality psychology and selection literature, studies have reported between 22 and 50% of job applicants increased their scores at the time of application. The stated result that, ''…applicant faking behavior resulted in significant rank ordering changes that impacted hiring decisions'', strikes an eerily cautionary tone for those using personality inventories as selection criteria to the health professions (Donovan et al 2014;Griffith et al 2007).…”