Role of Social Desirability in Personality Testing of Personnel Selection: The Red Herring Jeanette Cano Lucie-Ann Chen Corinna Morales Chanté Parsons 31 October 2006 Dr. Mills – Psyc 442, Fall 2006

Full Citation Ones, D., Viswesvaran, C., & Reiss, A. (1996). Role of Social Desirability in Personality Testing for Personnel Selection : The Red Herring. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(6), Retrieved Monday, October 30, 2006 from the PsycARTICLES database.

Article This was a meta-analysis aimed at finding out whether or not social desirability is the problem it was previously thought to be. This was a meta-analysis aimed at finding out whether or not social desirability is the problem it was previously thought to be. The researchers reviewed several hundred article to pinpoint which personality or other factors are related to social desirability and how The researchers reviewed several hundred article to pinpoint which personality or other factors are related to social desirability and how

Results The researchers found that social desirability is related to Emotional Stability as well as Agreeableness The researchers found that social desirability is related to Emotional Stability as well as Agreeableness Otherwise it is not the problem that it has been thought to be, and has negligible mediating, predictive or distorting ability. Otherwise it is not the problem that it has been thought to be, and has negligible mediating, predictive or distorting ability.

Important Points “Social desirability is not the problem it has often assumed to be” “Social desirability is not the problem it has often assumed to be” There is a correlation between two personality factors of the Big Five and social desirability. Emotional Stability and Agreeableness are positively correlated. There is a correlation between two personality factors of the Big Five and social desirability. Emotional Stability and Agreeableness are positively correlated.

Important Points The notion that those expected to “test smart” would have higher scores of social desirability was found to be inaccurate The notion that those expected to “test smart” would have higher scores of social desirability was found to be inaccurate The idea that social desirability has two parts, lends itself to further investigation. The idea that social desirability has two parts, lends itself to further investigation.

Critical Review There is dispute over the claim that the interrater reliability is the most appropriate form of reliability to correct the correlations between ratings of two judges. From the job performance literature, interrater reliabilities tend to be substantially lower than internal consistency reliabilities. There is dispute over the claim that the interrater reliability is the most appropriate form of reliability to correct the correlations between ratings of two judges. From the job performance literature, interrater reliabilities tend to be substantially lower than internal consistency reliabilities.

Critical Review The findings provide a precise description of the consistent links between social desirability and two of the Big Five dimensions of personality thereby pinpointing the theoretical reasons why social desirability may not be a problem. The findings provide a precise description of the consistent links between social desirability and two of the Big Five dimensions of personality thereby pinpointing the theoretical reasons why social desirability may not be a problem.