Delineating the construct network of the Personnel Reaction Blank: Associations with externalizing tendencies and normal personality.

Abstract

Integrity testing has long been utilized in personnel selection to screen for tendencies toward counterproductive workplace behaviors. The construct of externalizing from the psychopathology literature represents a coherent spectrum marked by disinhibitory traits and behaviors. The present study used a sample of male and female undergraduates to examine the construct network of the Personnel Reaction Blank (PRB; Gough, Arvey, & Bradley, 2004), a measure of integrity, in relation to externalizing as well as normal-range personality constructs assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; Tellegen & Waller, 2008). Results revealed moderate to strong associations between several PRB scales and externalizing, which were largely accounted for by MPQ traits subsumed by Negative Emotionality and Constraint. After accounting for MPQ traits in the prediction of externalizing, a modest predictive increment was achieved when adding the PRB scales, particularly biographical indicators from the Prosocial Background subscale. The findings highlight externalizing as a focal criterion for scale development in the integrity testing literature, and help delineate the construct network of the PRB within the domains of personality and psychopathology.

Personality and the latent structure of PTSD comorbidity

“…Secondary analyses that examined the relationship of each of the three NEM primary trait scales to externalizing suggested that the overall NEM association was accounted for primarily by the aggression and alienation components of the construct. Similarly, Blonigen et al (2011) reported that aggression and alienation were among the top three MPQ trait scale predictors of score variance on a 100-item inventory of externalizing symptoms. Together, these results suggest a pervasive role for NEM in conferring vulnerability to psychopathology and should raise questions about conceptualizing this higher-order dimension of personality solely as a vulnerability to disorders of the internalizing spectrum.…”

“…Based on prior research (Patrick, Curtin & Tellegen, 2002; Blonigen et al 2011), we expected that Stress Reaction would show evidence of specificity for Distress and Fear while Aggression would show a comparatively stronger association with Externalizing. To evaluate this, we ran an additional SEM in which these three primary trait scales were each set to predict the three latent psychopathology dimensions.…”

Optimizing efficiency of psychopathology assessment through quantitative modeling: Development of a brief form of the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory.

“…For example, in a study that included brain response measures along with questionnaire-based assessment, Hall et al (2007) reported that high overall scores on a 100-item screening form of the ESI were associated with: lower levels of socialization (Gough, 1960); higher and lower scores, respectively, on broad Negative Emotionality and Constraint trait dimensions of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; Patrick, Curtin, & Tellegen, 2002; Tellegen & Waller, 2008); higher reported incidence of rule-breaking behaviors in childhood and adulthood; heightened levels of alcohol dependence and drug abuse; and reduced amplitude of the error-related negativity, a brain response that normally occurs following behavioral errors. Relatedly, Blonigen et al (2011) reported that scores on this 100-item ESI strongly predicted scores on a widely-used test of integrity, the Personnel Research Blank (Gough, Arvey, & Bradley, 2004), designed to screen for tendencies toward counterproductive behaviors in employment settings (i.e., higher ESI scores predicted lower integrity scores).…”

“…However, the full-form ESI is too long (415 items) for use in extensive protocols (e.g., administrations involving multiple inventories; studies entailing interview, behavioral, and/or physiological assessment along with self-report assessment) or time-limited surveys, and a briefer version is needed as a basis for systematic research on the validity of the ESI measurement model. As an indication of the need for an abbreviated version of the ESI, validation studies to date have relied exclusively on shorter-length forms, designed either to approximate scores on the ESI as whole (Blonigen et al, 2011; Hall, Bernat, & Patrick, 2007; Nelson, Patrick, & Bernat, 2011) or to index its three higher-order factors (Venables & Patrick, 2012). However, the shortened versions used in prior studies do not provide for measurement at the finer-grained, lower-order facet level.…”

Validity of the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory in a criminal offender sample: Relations with disinhibitory psychopathology, personality, and psychopathic features.

“…Higher overall scores on the ESI were also associated with higher reported incidence of rule-breaking behaviors in childhood and adulthood, and heightened evidence of alcohol dependence and drug abuse. More recently, Blonigen et al (2011) reported that scores on this 100-item version of the ESI strongly predicted scores on a well-established integrity test, the Personnel Research Blank (Gough, Arvey, & Bradley, 2004), designed to screen for tendencies toward counterproductive behaviors in employment settings (i.e., higher ESI scores predicted lower integrity scores). These results provide additional evidence for the validity of scores on the ESI as a whole.…”