A Study of Faking Behavior on a Forced‐choice Self‐description Checklist

Abstract

AGE-OLD criticisms have been directed toward the use of personality measures in employment situations. A large number of critics have pointed to the demonstrated fakability of conventional instruments for this purpose. Inventory and questionnaire responses may easily be falsified, to an extent determined by the ability or tendency of the applicant to give a favorable impression of himself.Researchers have provided rather definitive evidence in this regard. For example, TifIin and McCormick (1958) report a study which showed that the Humm-Wadsworth Temperament Scale could be faked. Meehl and Hathaway (1946) have found the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory fakable and developed the K scale to "correct" various MMPI scores for this tendency. Wesman (1952) demonstrated similar results with the Bernreuter Personality Inventory. These studies are perhaps representative of the enormous amount of fakability evidence available concerning traditional personality instruments.Continued attempts at personality measurement have aimed at either correcting for or eliminating this defect. A fairly recent approach toward minimizing or eliminating self-report faking is that of the "forced-choice'' technique. Various test authors have hopefully incorporated this principle in personality test development. 13

Towards an empirical model of malingering and deception

“…In addition, vocational testing has been consistently found to be susceptible to defensiveness (Whyte, 1964). This includes the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (Gehman, 1957;Kirchner, 1959), the Kuder (Longstaff, 1948) and self-descriptive measures (Dunnette, McCartney, Carlson, & Kirchner, 1962). Several researchers in personnel selection (Graham, 1958;Norman, 1963) have suggested test construction strategies to identify dissimulation among applicants.…”

Building a Joint-Service Classification Research Roadmap: Individual Differences Measurement

“…This may be especially important given that some researchers have suggested that faking may actually increase validity (Dunnette et al, 1962;Ruch & Ruch, 1967), while others have some evidence that validity may drop (Oppler et al, in press). The issues of faking and socially desirable responding are of special importance in the military, where applicants may be motivated to fake good and bad, and where it is possible that recruiters may assist applicants in order to increase their probability of succeeding in the selection process.…”

“…In a selection situation, it has been shown that applicants' scores on a personality instrument are repeatedly higher than those provided by incumbents (Kleinke, 1992), indicating purposeful distortion on the part of the applicants. However, other research has suggested that the prevalence of faking in actual selection contexts 78 may be low (Dunnette, McCartney, Carlson, & Kirchner, 1962) and that it is possible to detect faked profiles (Tellegen, 1982).…”

Response bias in the measurement of salesperson orientations: The role of impression management

“…However, research suggests that faking responses may require little cognitive effort. Studies by Dunnette et al (1962) and Dalen et al (2001) suggest that respondents primarily use their positive and negative occupational stereotypes to guide their responses on jobrelevant items.…”

“…For example, Bass (1957) observed that applicants for selling positions indicate only desirable personality qualities. Dunnette, McCartney, Carlson, and Kirchner (1962) found that both applicants and incumbent salespersons distort their responses on adjective checklists to the stereotype of the successful salesperson. Ruch and Ruch (1967) argue that good salesmen engage in "sensible deception" by giving the answers they think the employer wants regardless of what their "true" personality dynamics really are (p. 201).…”