Psychological Testing Article Analysis

In the article Personality counts: Psychological tests can help peg the job applicants best suited for certain jobs Steve Bates critically discusses advantages and disadvantages as well as some pitfalls of psychological tests applied by contemporary organizations in search of workforce. Steve Bates conducts his research interviewing different HR specialists and carefully examining their experiences. First, there is an example of Tim Burke who guides one of the technology consulting and management companies in Sacramento. He had “trouble finding the right people for jobs” (Bates, 2002) and feeling despair for consistent misfits decided to turn to special personality tests. Personality tests turned out to be rather beneficial in determining whether job candidates suit for this or that position, and the effectiveness and success of this tool inspired Burke so much that he began to provide them among already working employees in order to check if they may suit better for some other position.

The introduction presenting one of the success stories is followed by Steve Bates’ speculation on how far applicable and legitimate are these personality tests. While there are some doubts to the point, the author relies upon other numerous researchers throughout the world to conclude that in most cases legitimate and scientifically validated tests contribute essentially to evaluation of job candidates. Then, there is a note on how the interest to personality testing grew after tragic events of 9/11 aggravated by economic tightens and workforce crisis. Ron Adler representing one HR management consulting firm in Potomac, for example, argues that workplace security is enhanced by careful examination of human nature.

In contrast to positive affects, Bates reflects complexities rising from test maze one has to navigate in to find something truly working as nowadays there are a lot of lay programs. While HR specialists still often lack knowledge of psychology they tend to be unprotected in the face of huge amount of unprofessional tests as they cannot estimate the value of their effectiveness. Besides, for quality assessment essential amounts of finance are required, and many vendors abuse the inexperience of employers. However, when money goes to the hands of professionals, the results tend to justify the costs in comparison with a couple of turnovers in employment (the idea is expressed by test consultant R. Wendell Williams).

Speaking about limitations, Bates also pays attention to the fact that orienting to personality tests may restrict a candidate in his or her professional choices. There is much concern about those restrictions as one may try to change and develop some qualities he or she is lacking at the moment of being interviewed, but if evaluated only for present characteristics the person will have to deny the dream and ambition. Therefore, the way out is to state the question directly to the candidate whether he or she is going to overcome the limits or choose another position to fit.

To support his investigations with practical view, Steve Bates describes one of the most popular personality tests which is basically known as “Big Five” or “Five-Factor”. This personality model is intended to characterize human behavior from five stages. The model consists of five personality traits which are need for stability, extraversion, originality, accommodation and consolidation. Each trait is measured by scale made up of three variants. Need for stability is estimated by reaction to stress and behavior in the face of crisis. If decisions are found without essential inner turmoil, person is resilient. If it takes time to calm down and withstand stress, then person is reactive. The medium position is responsive when some moments are needed to recover, but stress doesn’t unsettle the worker.

Further, the level of extraversion describes the reaction to sensory stimulation from other people and outer circumstances. If a person is oriented to other people, to the society and busy environment, then they are extraverts. If they prefer to work alone and are more concentrated on their inner world, they are introvert.  Ambiverts are somewhere in between. Originality is associated with novelty factor that describes how a person is open to new experiences. Conservative people are preservers, these are usually practical and down-to-earth types. Explorers are always in search of something new, they are creative and head-in-the-clouds. The medium position is moderate originality. As for accommodation, it is to show the dominance component in a personality. Some people prefer to defer, they are agreeable and tolerant and characterized as adapters. Team workers who however tend to be initiative are negotiators. Those who can’t stand substitution, tough-minded and self-assured are called challengers. Finally, consolidation is at the same time the achievement factor. It is rather important to estimate the ambition of a candidate, as it shows how far it is important for one to heat the goal and in what way. Flexible people easily cope with multiple tasks and extremely need diversity in their work. Focused people are less flexible and more disciplined, they concentrate on one task and details. Balanced people cope well with both diverse and monotonous tasks.

The article is finished by giving practical advice on how to orient in the vast amount of personality tests and how to apply them successfully. Initially, it is recommended to determine what personal characteristics are needed for particular position in order to know what to search for. Then, it is advised to turn to outside assistance and while appealing to professionals, it is necessary to demand the evidence that the assessment they offer has been validated scientifically and accords with legal basis, without any bias or discrimination to the person interviewed. The test must be correlated with job performance and never violate human privacy and civil rights.

All in all, the best advice included into the outline is not to rely blindly on the results of personality tests, but to use them as one of the elements of evaluation; in other words, they work better in combination with other tools like cognition tests and so on to provide a holistic view.

Virtually, the research of Steve Bates seems to be extremely timely and burning as today psychological testing is rather controversial and painful. As Orpen (1998) states, there is too little known about these tests despite great advancement in psychology and technology. Even experts are often at a loss, let alone average human resources managements who deal with so many misfits. Nevertheless, Steve Bates has managed to provide a full picture on modern state of this sphere. He has given a comprehensive analysis of professional tests which are applied today. As we have seen, the evidence has been based on practice and experience of different hiring managers and CEOs who faced obstacles in their work, but were lucky to overcome them with the help of reasonable and careful application of appropriate instruments.

What is more, Bates analyzes the wide-spread test which gives a scale to determine how candidates tend to react to disappointment, share information with others, pay attention to details and take credit for themselves. Unfortunately, these tests are not always working as they require the interviewees to scale those reactions themselves and thus there may be lack of truth. On the other hand, the example of “Big Five” has demonstrated the effectiveness of scientifically approved assessments. This test is able to provide a deep-going picture of personality’s nature. Besides, while other models may cause much resistance, this test doesn’t look like an insult to individuality. Furthermore, people often tend to lie in order to look better suiting for the position. But in the model “Big Five” there no right or wrong answers and person is tested for honesty as well. “Big Five” is one of the most competent and sound tests to gauge human nature and to understand where he or she can better fulfill themselves. Nevertheless, other tests which estimate human intelligence and honesty, motivations and behavioral tendencies, management aptitude and overall experiences can also be beneficial in combination as the more you know the candidate, the less space for misfit is left. In addition, it is also significant to remember that no test no matter how approved and enhanced it is can guarantee 100 percent accuracy of the results.

All points considered, psychological tests prove to be an advantageous mediator between an employer and potential employees who are driven by common interests and can unite their efforts for reaching common goals while the success of an employee is contributing to the success of the company and at the same time company’s success, stability and progress provide comfort and benefits for each employee.