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4 U. Pa. J. Lab. & Emp. L. 279 (2001-2002)
The Use of Personality Tests as a Hiring Tool: Is the Benefit Worth the Cost?

handle is hein.journals/upjlel4 and id is 289 raw text is: Articles THE USE OF PERSONALITY TESTS AS A HIRING TOOL: IS THE BENEFIT WORTH THE COST? Susan J. Stabilet INTRODUCTION The costs of making bad hiring decisions and the difficulties of getting meaningful information from reference checks of prospective employees have led many employers to use personality tests1 as part of their hiring process. Employers choose from a wide variety of tests in an effort to both weed out job candidates with undesirable traits, such as dishonesty, or tendencies toward violence or tardiness, and to judge the fit between the t Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; Research Fellow, NYU Center for Labor and Employment Law. J.D. 1982, New York University School of Law; B.A. 1979, Georgetown University. An earlier version of this article was presented at the May 2000 Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. 1. The term psychological testing covers a broad range of tests, including tests of cognitive ability and personality tests. Cognitive ability or aptitude tests attempt to measure the potential to learn a specific body of knowledge. William D. Hooker, Psychological Testing in the Workplace, 11 OCCUP. MED. 699, 700 (1996). Personality tests are instruments for the measurement of emotional, motivational, interpersonal, and attitudinal characteristics, as distinguished from abilities. ANNE ANASTASI & SusAN URBINA, PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING 348 (7th ed. 1997). Thus, they measure personality traits, temperament, personal preferences, interests and attitudes, ways of thinking about oneself, styles of relating to others, and psychological symptoms and problems. Hooker, supra, at 700. I address in this article only personality testing and not the broader range of psychological tests. In addition, I discuss only the use of personality tests as a determinant of hiring. I do not address suspicion-based psychological testing by psychologists that an employer may initiate in response to a specific situation. See, e.g., Redmond v. City of Overland Park, 672 F. Supp. 473, 479-480 (D. Kan. 1987) (addressing challenges to psychological testing where comprehensive testing was ordered after the employer developed concern for the plaintiff s judgment based on specific incidents of on the job behavior). 279

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