Computerized Personality Tests Spawn Culture of Cheating: WSJ
Jan 12th, 2009 • Posted in: NewsCritics say the tests, used by retailers when hiring, actually screen out honest people and reward liars
NEW YORK
The shortage of retail jobs is creating a culture of cheating among job applicants, many of whom use the Internet to crib the correct answers to automated personality tests, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Reporter Vanessa O’Connell notes that many retailers have largely automated the hiring process with computerized personality tests that pose questions that purportedly judge an applicant’s integrity and temperament.
One question: “You have to give up on some things before you start.” The direction from an online cheat sheet: “Strongly disagree.”
O’Connell reports that in addition to spawning a widespread culture of cheating, the use of automated personality tests is raising questions of fairness “even as it becomes a critical determinant of who gets a job and who doesn’t in a stressful era of rising unemployment.”
Critics, including some workers who have been coached in the “correct” answers by friends who have already taken the test or sought out correct responses from various websites say the tests actually weed out honest applicants and select those who lie.
Answer keys are available on a wide variety of sites, according to the Journal.
Industry representatives tell the Journal that the incidence of cheating is low and there is no evidence of erosion of the tests’ effectiveness.
Source: Wall Street Journal, Jan. 7.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 19, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 28, 2008 — Related Newsline story, July 16, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 4, 2006 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 5, 2005.
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