Neutralisera mera! Neutraliserade items inverkan på skönmålning vid personlighetstestning i rekryteringssammanhang.

Sammanfattning: Personality inventories are commonly used in companies’ personnel selection and recruitment, because they increase the predictive validity. A problem is that some jobseekers respond in a social desirable way to increase their chances of employment, which is possible since many inventories are based on self-ratings. Previous studies have shown reduced social desirable responding (SDR) when inventory items are neutralized, making them less evaluative. However, neutralized inventories have only been studied outside personnel selection context, with participants responding anonymously. The main purpose of this study was to investigate if neutralized items in personality inventories also reduce faking in a personnel selection context. The secondary purpose was to investigate if SDR is moderated by type of job and job specification. The study was based on results from 70 participants applying for jobs at 4 different companies. The design included inventories with evaluative and neutralized personality items, based on the Five Factor Model. The participant’s results were compared with norm groups. Results showed less SDR for inventories using neutralized items compared with an inventory with evaluative items. SDR seemed to be moderated by type of job and job specification, but not as predicted. The study has a practical value for inventory developers, since reduced SDR can contribute to increased predictive validity, and a more fair selection.