Psychological Testing in the Workplace
Psychological Testing in the Workplace
Introduction
Psychological tests are popular among private and public companies, government agencies and in the military as well. Psychological testing is used for several purposes, they can be used in the pre-employment process, and they can be used as an aid in regarding employment retention as well as in job placement. While the uses of psychological testing are wide spread, there are issues revolving around the validity and reliability of these tests, when a person’s employment is at risk this can be considered a heavy issue to be considered. Along with the reliability and the validity, there are ethical issues to be considered that the employers must keep in mind.
Types of Personality Tests There are a variety of different types of personality tests. Three in particular are popular among private companies as well as government agencies; these are the Myers-Briggs type indicator, the IPIP-NEO personality test, and the Kolbe Index (Basu, 2012). The Myers-Briggs type indicator is a personality test that organizes an employee’s personality data along four scales of opposing characteristics. These scales include whether the employees energy source comes from within or is a reflection of his/her environment, whether the employee focuses more on intuition or sensory input, whether the employee uses reason and logic or personal values, and whether the employee is an organized individual or is spontaneous in their daily activities. This personality test may be utilized for employee retention especially in allocating tasks to a group of employees finding which employee is best suited to each task required (Basu, 2012). The IPIP-Neo personality test (international personality item pool test) measures an employee’s personality using five broad categories and thirty sub-categories. This personality test is used to see how well employees will be able to work in a multicultural setting, especially in multi-national
Introduction
Psychological tests are popular among private and public companies, government agencies and in the military as well. Psychological testing is used for several purposes, they can be used in the pre-employment process, and they can be used as an aid in regarding employment retention as well as in job placement. While the uses of psychological testing are wide spread, there are issues revolving around the validity and reliability of these tests, when a person’s employment is at risk this can be considered a heavy issue to be considered. Along with the reliability and the validity, there are ethical issues to be considered that the employers must keep in mind.
Types of Personality Tests There are a variety of different types of personality tests. Three in particular are popular among private companies as well as government agencies; these are the Myers-Briggs type indicator, the IPIP-NEO personality test, and the Kolbe Index (Basu, 2012). The Myers-Briggs type indicator is a personality test that organizes an employee’s personality data along four scales of opposing characteristics. These scales include whether the employees energy source comes from within or is a reflection of his/her environment, whether the employee focuses more on intuition or sensory input, whether the employee uses reason and logic or personal values, and whether the employee is an organized individual or is spontaneous in their daily activities. This personality test may be utilized for employee retention especially in allocating tasks to a group of employees finding which employee is best suited to each task required (Basu, 2012). The IPIP-Neo personality test (international personality item pool test) measures an employee’s personality using five broad categories and thirty sub-categories. This personality test is used to see how well employees will be able to work in a multicultural setting, especially in multi-national
References: Basu, C. (2012). Three Different Types of Psychological Testing Used in the Workplace. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from chron.com: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/three-different-types-psychological-testing-used-workplace-25537.html Marshall, J. (2010, February 4). The Ethics of Workplace Personality Tests. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from Ethics Alarms: http://ethicsalarms.com/2010/02/04/the-ethics-of-workplace-personality-tests/ Raymond Richmond, Ph.D. (2012). Psychological Testing. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from A guide to Psychology and its Practice : http://www.guidetopsychology.com/testing.htm