Pros and Cons of Using Personality Tests in Personnel Assessment
These two prominent psychologists will discuss the arguments for and against using personality tests in personnel assessment in general and assessment centers in particular. Robert Hogan will argue that the data to support the use of personality measures is well known and overwhelmingly positive. He will argue that the past and recent criticism of these measures is based on ideology, in large part the result of the behaviorist heritage of American Psychology. Although business people understand the role of attitudes and values in occupational performance, the lesson eludes many academic psychologists who are blinkered by their parochial views of human nature.
Kevin Murphy will argue that the use of personality measures in assessment and in making personnel decisions requires well-developed models linking personality constructs with job requirements, high quality measurement, and defensible decision rules for using personality information, and that these requirements are rarely met in the settings where we would like to use personality measures.
Following individual presentations, they will address a series of questions presented by the moderator. They will comment on the psychometric and professional issues related to using personality tests in assessment systems designed for different purposes such as selection, promotion, diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses, and development.
Speaker
Robert T. Hogan, Ph. D.
President
Hogan Assessment Systems
Robert Hogan, Ph.D., president of Hogan Assessment Systems, is an international authority on personality assessment, psychological measurement, and organizational effectiveness.
Dr. Hogan was McFarlin Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Tulsa for 14 years. Prior to that, Dr. Hogan was Professor of Psychology and Social Relations at The Johns Hopkins University. He has received a number of research and teaching awards, and is the editor of the Handbook of Personality Psychology and author of the Hogan Personality Inventory. Dr. Hogan received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in personality assessment.
Dr. Hogan is the author of more than 300 journal articles, chapters and books. He is widely credited with demonstrating how careful attention to personality factors can influence organizational effectiveness in a variety of areas — ranging from organizational climate and leadership to selection and effective team performance. Dr. Hogan is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
Speaker
Kevin Murphy, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Pennsylvania State University
Kevin Murphy is a Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology and Pennsylvania State University, and has served on the faculties of Rice University, New York University and Colorado State University. He served as President of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Editor of Journal of Applied Psychology. He served as a Member and Chair of the Department of Defense Advisory Committee on Military Personnel Testing, and has also served on several National Academy of Sciences committees, most recently the Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph. He is the author of over one hundred articles and book chapters, and author or editor of ten books, in areas ranging from psychometrics and statistical analysis to individual differences, performance assessment, gender, and honesty in the workplace. Dr. Murphy's main areas of research include personnel selection and placement, performance appraisal, and organizational attraction and recruitment. He is the recipient of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology's 2004 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award.