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THE EFFECTS OF REQUIRED ELABORATION OF ANSWERS TO BIODATA QUESTIONS
Author(s) -
SCHMITT NEAL,
KUNCE CHARLES
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
personnel psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.076
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1744-6570
pISSN - 0031-5826
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2002.tb00121.x
Subject(s) - psychology , elaboration , test (biology) , selection (genetic algorithm) , social psychology , applied psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , paleontology , philosophy , humanities , biology
The impact of a request that examinees elaborate on their answers to a subset of items in a biodata instrument was evaluated. Four forms of a test in which different subsets of items are elaborated were randomly administered to 4 groups of examinees taking a pilot form of a selection instrument for a civil service position. Results indicated significantly lower scores on items for which elaborations were requested than the items for which no elaborations were requested. Lower scores were also observed for nonelaborated items when these items were embedded among those that were elaborated, and lower scores were found when the elaborated items were presented only in the first half of the test. Although the results suggest that requiring elaborated answers may reduce scores on biodata items, several practical and theoretical questions should be investigated to determine the utility of this approach as a method of reducing socially desirable responding.