ABSTRACT
Over the past few decades, there has been a substantial amount of research on the use of personality assessments for personnel selection. The results of this research suggest that certain personality variables (e.g., conscientiousness, emotional stability) can predict job performance across a variety of jobs (e.g., Barrick & Mount, 1991; Hurtz & Donovan, 2000), and that the criterion-related validities of personality variables may be enhanced when confirmatory rather than exploratory research strategies are used (Tett, Jackson, & Rothstein, 1991; Tett, Jackson, Rothstein, & Reddon, 1999). In addition, when considered within a multivariate framework, evidence suggests that small sets of carefully selected personality variables may predict job performance at a level similar to that produced by cognitive ability (Tett & Christiansen, 2007). Despite this favorable evidence for the criterion-related validity of personality measures, several authors have called for additional research on the use of alternative methods of assessing job applicant personality (Morgeson et al., 2007; Ployhart, 2006a).
