The Validity of Individual Psychological Assessments

Abstract

Individual psychological assessment (IPA) is an active area of practice for many industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists.Unfortunately, the research base on these practices lags considerably behind other approaches used in employee selection. The article by Silzer and Jeanneret (2011) will hopefully promote increased discussion and, more importantly, increased research on individual assessment practices. In this commentary, we highlight several areas of work that we view as essential to building a sound body of empirical research to serve as the scientific foundation for individual assessment practices. Definition of Individual AssessmentBefore we can make progress in understanding the utility of IPA, we first need to figure out what we mean by the term. Of central importance is to determine whether IPA reflects a unique approach to employee selection. Alternatively, IPA might be viewed simply as a collection of

Individual Psychological Assessment: A Core Competency for Industrial–Organizational Psychology

“…In a classic selection validation model for entry level jobs, one or more measures of job performance have served as the criteria. These are the types of validity studies and meta‐analyses relied upon by Hazucha et al (2011), Kuncel and Highhouse (2011), and Morris et al (2011). We have noted the design and criteria problems associated with criterion‐related validation studies for IPA (especially at the executive level), and both Lowman and Tippins have extended these arguments (i.e., what about those not selected, small sample size, job variation, and what is actually being predicted).…”

“…These are encouraging results considering that Roller and Morris did not include any studies that used a statistical or mechanical integration approach. We are less enthusiastic about the Morris et al (2011) call for studying incremental validity of components for executive IPAs because we do not think it is feasible to do such a study at the executive level. We concur with Lowman (2011) who states that “there is a fair amount of evidence that IPAs seem to work effectively.”…”

“…Only then will we be able to confidently and successfully identify and develop outstanding assessment psychologists and improve overall IPA success. Useful suggestions for research topics can be found in the focal article as well as in the commentaries by Hazucha et al (2011), Lowman (2011), Morris et al (2011), Tippins (2011), and Doverspike (2011). The likelihood that meaningful research is conducted and published will depend on IPA continuing to be a core competency in the education and training of I–O psychologists.…”

“…Both Hazucha et al (2011) and Morris et al (2011) discuss key assessor skills and underscore the central role of an assessor's ability to interpret and integrate results. To us and several of the commentators, assessor judgment is a critical defining characteristic of IPA.…”

Étude sur les caractéristiques de la personnalité reliées à la performance académique en sciences administratives /

“…Grâce à ces recherches, de récentes méta-analyses (Van Iddekinge, 2011;Morris, 2011;Bowling, 2010;et Chiaburu, 2011) ont pu être réalisées et ont contribué à la synthèse de la littérature. Ainsi, peut-on espérer une meilleure définition d'une « conjugaison » complexe de la personnalité, afin de pouvoir l'évaluer.…”