Introduction
The personality tests are designed to methodically produce information about an individual’s inspirations, interests, preferences, emotional make-up, and way of interacting either with people or situations. Personality measures can be conducted through various means (Remaida et al., 2021). It can be conducted through interviews, the administration of questionnaires, and observer ratings. The personality self-report registers mostly require individuals seeking job opportunities to rate themselves based on the chains of statements developed to determine their opinion on absolutely stable personality traits. The information obtained is then processed by the organization to generate an individual profile which aids in predicting job performance or satisfaction with some elements of the job (Jelley, 2021). The organization’s big five personality traits commonly assessed include; extroversion, emotional intelligence, friendliness, carefulness, and openness to experience.
Main body
On the other hand, integrity tests can be defined as a specific form of personality test developed to aid in an individual assessment concerning their behaviors in terms of honesty, trustworthiness, and dependability. Lack of integrity anywhere or in an organization always results in theft and employee absenteeism (Jones & Terris, 2018). It is also associated with violent acts of employees and related disciplinary issues. The integrity tests and personality tests have some similarities as they measure similar factors, predominantly carefulness and bits of emotional steadiness and agreeableness. It is agreeable that organizations can rely on the integrity test to determine the employee’s performance on their overall responsibilities.
This is true because integrity and carefulness are strongly related, and conscientiousness is one of the key items in predicting overall job performance. Integrity tests can be utilized to measure individual personality, and they can be of value addition to a selection process when utilized together with cognitive ability tests (PĹ™Ăhodová et al., 2021). The administration of the integrity test cannot eliminate dishonesty and theft at workplaces; however, through research, it has been evident that employees who have scored terribly on the integrity test when hired tend to perform poorly at workplaces and less suitable for the role.
Both personality tests and integrity tests have some similarities and differences. Some of the similarities between personality and integrity tests can be seen in their ability to predict individual overall job performance. Both tests can be similarly administered to an individual via paper or electronically. The cost for administration for each test is relatively low since they do not need a skilled administrator to offer them. Another similarity is in the cost of development of the test. It is relatively cheaper to purchase the already developed test rather than develop a customized test for an organization. The integrity and personality tests usually contain items that tend to reveal individual private feelings and thoughts. The applicants consider these items as non-job-related items, thus being overly invasive.
Apart from the similarities between the two tests, they also have differences between them. One of the differences between the two can be seen in their level of return on investment. The integrity test has a high return on investment in areas or organizations where counterproductive measures are highly needed. Counterproductive behaviors such as theft of the organization’s resources and absenteeism can be detrimental to the organization’s performance; thus, there is a need for the integrity test (Jones & Terris, 2018). On the other hand, the return on investment for a personality test is very high if the organization is interested in recruiting specific job-related skills, personality skills, and interpersonal skills.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both personality tests and integrity tests are vital to any organization. The personality tests can help the organization select the most desirable traits. On the other hand, the integrity test is vital in selection since it helps the organization avoid recruiting people with questionable traits. This allows the organization to minimize counterproductive issues such as theft and absenteeism.
References
Jelley, R. B. (2021). Using personality feedback for work-related development and performance improvement: A rapid evidence assessment. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 53(2), 175.
Jones, J. W., & Terris, W. (2018). Integrity testing for personnel selection: An overview. Occupational Crime, 353-376.
PĹ™Ăhodová, T., Preiss, M., Straková, E., JurĂÄŤková, V., & Heissler, R. (2021). May the testing of integrity help to employ people with mood disorders?. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 52(1).
Remaida, A., Moumen, A., El Idrissi, Y. E. B., Abdellaoui, B., & Harraki, Y. (2021). The use of personality tests as a pre-employment tool: A comparative study. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 119). EDP Sciences.