[OT] Personality tests.

[Quickbeam]

A bit off topic, but good luck on becoming a firefighter Jester47. I'm registered to begin the local Fire Academy this fall with part-time classes to accommodate my current career. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to become a full-time firefighter with business interests on the side, or stick with my current business ventures and volunteer for a local fire department.

Either way good luck with the personality profile, etc.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I really dislike those tests, even though I can understand how and why the do work in a general sense.

I just think that asking some of those above questions tells you nothing about me in any real fashion, and that actually talking to me would probably yield better results.

However, in a larger group you need a better system, yadda yadda yadda...

 

[Michael Tree]

Actually, if it was a professionally designed personality test, and standardized properly, it's about as accurate as it gets.

Those are a couple of really big ifs. Although some tests have been well designed and validated, there are a huge number of dodgy psychological tests available. Even the well validated ones like the MMPI have limits to their applicability, especially when used for purposes they weren't designed for, and with populations they weren't standardized for.

 

[Michael Tree]

Anyway, I had to take a whole series of tests including memory and other mental tests, one of which was some kind of personality test. Here's one question I remember:
<Snip>

Those could be examples of bad questions, but they might not be. Sometimes tests don't actually measure what they appear to measure, but something more subtle or complicated. This is especially true for neuropsych tests. For example, the answer on "I've never been attracted to a member of the opposite sex" question may be compared to another question elsewhere in the test like "I am attracted to people of the same sex as me" (or something else with very different wording), to determine whether the test-taker has a problem with negative sentences. Such a test wouldn't rely on individual items, but would have several such subtle item pairs to get more reliable results.

On the other hand, it might just have been a bad test.

 

[Michael Tree]

I just think that asking some of those above questions tells you nothing about me in any real fashion, and that actually talking to me would probably yield better results.

Actually, a lot of research has shown that interviews are essentially useless for determining what a person will be like on the job. Some people just come across better in interviews, have better answers, or come across as more trustworthy, for reasons that have nothing to do with the actual job or the actual qualities of the applicant.

 

[Villano]

Those could be examples of bad questions, but they might not be. Sometimes tests don't actually measure what they appear to measure, but something more subtle or complicated. This is especially true for neuropsych tests. For example, the answer on "I've never been attracted to a member of the opposite sex" question may be compared to another question elsewhere in the test like "I am attracted to people of the same sex as me" (or something else with very different wording), to determine whether the test-taker has a problem with negative sentences. Such a test wouldn't rely on individual items, but would have several such subtle item pairs to get more reliable results.

On the other hand, it might just have been a bad test.

Hmmm...That's a good point. That was 10 yrs ago, so I can't recall if there were similar question. I don't think so, though, because that question really stuck in my mind. I'd like to think that I would have remembered if there was something similar.

They also showed me pictures and asked what was "missing" in them. The problem is that they were done in a broken line style, making it hard to tell what exactly they were.

For example, one pic was of a convertible that was covered in snow up to its wheels. The thing I should have pointed out was that there was no snow inside the car.

The problem is, I didn't realize what it was until after the test was over. Why? Because it looked like a motorboat to me. I had no idea what was wrong with the picture! It looked like a motorboat in the water.

The more I think about it, I think they were just bad tests.

 

[John Crichton]

When I was in retail, I had to take a personality test to get hired. I found out later that the test wasn't really a personality test but simply a problem to be solved. Many of the questions were geared to test one's honesty and integrity on the job. Now, this job entaled electronics sales so these people aren't neccessarily looking for folks that are ultra-moral. They are looking for folks that can think on their feet and that have some intelligence. If the test could weed out some of the less-than-bright folks, they were fine with that.

Right now, I am in management (not retail, thank God) and I have to conduct interviews all the time which of course are not written personality tests but we do ask a battery of standard questions to see if the applicant's personality matches the job interviewed for. In this case, there are simply certain things (buzzwords if you like) that we look for. We don't use personality tests because of the hiring process and personally I am not a fan of them, but some organizations are so large that they need them, if for just weeding out certain folks they know won't make the cut.