Constructed Response Formats and Their Effects on Minority-Majority Differences and Validity

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lievens, Filip; Sackett, Paul R.; Dahlke, Jeffrey A.; Oostrom, Janneke K.; De Soete, Britt
• 署名单位: Singapore Management University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Ghent University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0000367
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 715-726
• 关键词: minorities; immigrants; response format; subgroup differences; situational judgment tests

摘要

The inflow of immigrants challenges organizations to consider alternative selection procedures that reduce potential minority (immigrants)-majority (natives) differences, while maintaining valid predictions of performance. To deal with this challenge, this paper proposes response format as a practically and theoretically relevant factor for situational judgment tests (SJTs). We examine a range of response format categories (from traditional multiple-choice formats to more innovative constructed response formats) and conceptually link these response formats to mechanisms underlying minority-majority differences. Two field experiments are conducted with SJTs. Study 1 (274 job seekers) contrasts minority-majority differences in scores on a multiple-choice versus a written constructed response format. Written constructed responses produce much smaller minority-majority differences (d = .28 vs. d = .92). In Study 2 (269 incumbents), scores on a written constructed versus an audiovisual constructed format are compared. The audiovisual format further reduces minority-majority differences (d = .09 vs. d = .41), with validities remaining the same. Results arc suggestive of cognitive load as a contributor to the reduction in minority-majority differences, as are rater effects: Scores of raters evaluating transcribed audiovisual responses, which anonymized test takers, produce larger differences. In sum, altering response modality via more realistic response formats (i.e.. the audiovisual constructed format) leads to significant reductions in minority-majority differences without impairing criterion-related validity. Implications for selection theory and practice are discussed.