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Big Five traits: Predictors of retesting propensity and score improvement
Author(s) -
Barron Laura G.,
Randall Jason G.,
Trent John D.,
Johnson James F.,
Villado Anton J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of selection and assessment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.812
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1468-2389
pISSN - 0965-075X
DOI - 10.1111/ijsa.12166
Subject(s) - conscientiousness , psychology , big five personality traits , credentialing , personality , affect (linguistics) , cognition , selection (genetic algorithm) , incentive , clinical psychology , personnel selection , social psychology , applied psychology , developmental psychology , extraversion and introversion , medical education , management , psychiatry , medicine , communication , artificial intelligence , computer science , economics , microeconomics
Although most high‐stakes admissions, credentialing, and pre‐employment tests allow candidates to retest, relatively little is known about the personal traits of candidates who persist in retesting upon initial failure. In this study we investigated whether Big Five traits may predispose initially unsuccessful applicants to retest and subsequently improve on high‐stakes cognitive ability and knowledge tests required for personnel selection. In this study personality measures (unlike the cognitive tests) did not affect selection outcomes and hence did not provide applicants incentive to distort their personality responses to gain entry into the organization. Applicants higher in conscientiousness were more likely to retest, and emotional stability positively predicted cognitive test score improvement. We discuss implications of these results for organizations considering retesting policies.