psych

Part A

Answer the below questions, Minimum 300 words, APA format, must have in-text citation and references.

13.1 This article presents practical guidelines to be used in preemployment testing by organizations to help ensure successful integrity testing procedures. The guidelines address several key issues, including the need for careful planning, setting objectives, selecting tests, training, making hiring decisions, and monitoring performance and behaviors over time. Please read the article and answer the following questions for this week's forum: 

1. Describe the primary purpose many organizations include integrity testing during the hiring process of new employees.

2. Describe the differences between overt integrity tests and personality-based integrity tests, including when an organization would choose one over the other type.

3. Discuss the guidance the authors provide in regards to fairness and adverse impact from integrity tests.

Fine, S. (2013).  Practical Guidelines for Implementing Preemployment Integrity Tests . Public Personnel Management, 42 (2), 281-292. DOI: 10.1177/0091026013487049

Part B

Please provide discussion responses for 1 and 2.

Minimum 150 words for each responses, APA Format, must have in-text citation and references

Response 1

Organizations would use integrity testing in the hiring process as a way to screen potential new employees and see if they have habits and behaviors that would make them counterproductive or prone to “occupational offenses, such as theft, fraud, bribery, violence and drug use” (Fine, 2013, p. 282). The integrity tests would measure how a potential new employee feels about counterproductive work behavior and occupational offenses by asking them direct questions about each topic.  

An overt integrity test assesses direct opinions and admissions towards a specific topic, in the case of this article it is counterproductive behavior. A personality-based integrity test, on the other hand, measures “personal character traits that are inferentially related to these behaviors” (Fine, 2013, p. 285). An organization would choose an overt integrity test if they want direct or straight to the point answers. Employers will use the overt integrity test in an interview or during reference checks. Personality-based integrity tests would be used if they want more in depth analysis of a potential hire since personality-based integrity tests measure behaviors and traits and the results and findings can be compared. 

Fine (2013) suggests that in order to keep fairness and adverse impact, employers should keep records of the candidates’ demographics and monitor that the percentages of those hired “are proportionate to the percentage of candidates in each group” (p. 290). This is important in order to eliminate discrimination. Fine (2013) also suggests giving employee feedback but not informing low-scoring individuals that the test labeled them as dishonest (p. 289). Instead, administrators should give the feedback in a sensitive manner by describing to the candidate that “negative work attitudes that were derived from their responses to key questions, which are often related to subsequent behaviors” (p. 289). This ensures that the low-scorers are not misjudged and not the end all be all of whether or not they are hireable.

Reference

Fine, S. (2013). Practical guidelines for implementing preemployment integrity tests. Public Personnel Management, 42(2), 281–292. DOI: 10.1177/009102601348704

Response 2

Describe the primary purpose many organizations include integrity testing during the hiring process of new employees.

According to Fine (2013), “Integrity tests are designed to screen-out high-risk candidates as a means to mitigate subsequent incidences of counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) and occupational offenses, such as theft, fraud, bribery, violence, and drug use (Murphy, 1993)”, (p282). I find it astonishing that someone was smart enough to figure out how to formulate a test that can predict an applicants propensity to act in these ways. Seriously, someone with a lack of integrity that would do these things clearly wouldn’t have the integrity to answer honestly. At the same time, identifying that lack of integrity somehow by identifying false answers on a test? What if they have poor reading comprehension, or maybe they really are that perfect? I get that Miller & Lovler argue, “…it seems that where the relationship between conscientious and job performance is concerned, more is not always better”, (p. 421). However, this concept loses all traction for me when it comes to integrity. There are a few things in this life that there simply is no way for there to be too much of. Fun being one, and integrity being another. Feel free to add to the list, as I’m sure there are more.

  Describe the differences between overt integrity tests and personality-based integrity tests, including when an organization would choose one over the other type.

Again, here’s my cut & paste… According to Fine (2013), “The main distinction between these two types is that overt tests directly measure opinions and admissions toward counterproductive behaviors, whereas personality-based tests measure personal character traits that are inferentially related to these behaviors (Sackett et al., 1989)”, (p 285). So, when to use which one? Well, why not both? I would imagine that if you are applying for a job as say, an armored car guard/driver, that an overt test would be the first thing you’d face… Hey buddy, are you gonna steal the money? At the same time, you would want to be sure that the person is psychologically stable. Of course, the other factors to consider and logistical, such as cost, available time, and so on. And then Fine (2013) offers his opinion that, “Perhaps most important, however, is to select an integrity test based on its professional qualities”, (p. 285). I wonder which test company HE works for… Yes, I am being facetious.

  Discuss the guidance the authors provide in regard to fairness and adverse impact from integrity tests.

I’m sorry, what? It’s unfair to want employees with integrity? So, rather than just cut & pasting the same old quote about fairness and adverse impact, this time I’ll just key in on the point that the author makes about integrity tests, specifically that they “…are known to be typically fair and nondiscriminatory in a variety of settings (Ones & Viswesvaran, 1998b)”, (Fine, 2013, p. 290). I would be very interested in seeing examples of integrity test items/questions that are discriminatory in some way. I am 100% not being sarcastic. I have never taken an integrity test, unless you count actual instances of using integrity and doing the right thing, which I’m sure we have all experienced. By the way, for those that are unaware, the Ai Force’s 1st Core value and the foundation of the entire force… Integrity First. For me, anything less is just unacceptable.