Testing the efficacy of a new procedure in reducing faking in personality tests within selection contexts.

Jinyan Fan, Ph.D. - Hofstra University

Although personality tests have been increasingly used in employee selection settings, organizations are concerned that self-report measures such as personality inventories are prone to response distortion or faking. We propose a new procedure to address the faking issue. Focusing on individual-level responses, this web/computer-based procedure attempts to identify and warn potential fakers early on during the testing process, and then give them a chance for recourse. A field study was conducted to test the efficacy of this new procedure. Participants were 157 applicants for staff positions at a large university in a southern city in the People's Republic of China. The results showed that the new procedure reduced overall faking and improved the quality of individual hiring decisions.