Experts warn employers on personality tests

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Personality tests are becoming more common when applying for work but psychologists said companies might want to reconsider using them because they give little insight into job performance.

Personality tests, especially the self-report type, also have the potential for faked answers, according to Frederick Morgeson of Michigan State University.

"Our argument is not that personality itself is not useful. What we're saying is the way we typically measure personality in the employment context is problematic," Morgeson said in an interview.

The study published in the journal Personnel Psychology looked at several issues including the honesty of respondents and the measure of personality as it relates to job performance in general.

Typical questions on these tests range from "Are you hard-working?" to "Have you ever stolen anything?"

"Usually it's pretty obvious how you're supposed to answer," said Morgeson.

But he and his colleagues from Purdue University, the University of Central Florida and Pennsylvania State University said it is not just the fakers that concern them.

They added that research should be directed at improving the self-report tests, rather than scrapping them entirely. Other measures such as structured interviews, job experience, references and cognitive tests are much better measures of job performance.

"All things being equal it's better to be smart than stupid," he said.