Pros And Cons Of Personality Testing

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1. "Personality tests are a great way to select new employees because personality can predict performance on the job." Discuss. Personality testing (PAT) is frequently used by most big firms in order to evaluate the strengths of applications. However, is this really a good way to select new employees? Is it predictive of performance on the job? It is also important to consider whether "a great way to select employees" implies PAT is a better than other measures, or whether it implies PAT is generally satisfactory as a means of selection. This essay is going to discuss arguments in support and to the contrary of PAT as a measure of selection of employees. Firstly, personality testing is more stable and might be more predictive than other measures and therefore more useful. Firms are receiving increasing numbers in applications and therefore have to find predictive measures of selecting candidates that are time- and cost efficient while also being stable. Other measures of …show more content…

This may decrease the validity of personality traits as selection criteria, as it is situationally dependent which traits are advantageous. Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and low neuroticism are the traits usually deemed socially desirable. However, these may have "dark sides", and their counterparts, which are usually considered undesirable, might have "bright sides" (Judge, LePine XXXX). For example, while extraversion implies better leadership effectiveness, it might also lead to more impulsive behaviour and more accidents. While low emotional stability leads to counterproductive behaviour and rebelliousness, it also can lead to higher creativity and adaptability (Judge, LePine XXXX). This may complicate the use and lower the validity of PAT as a selection, as situational context and also group configurations should be taken into account by HR

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