Is It Possible to Improve Test Takers’ Perceptions of Ability Tests by Providing an Explanation?
Abstract
Abstract. Previous meta-analytic findings have revealed that explanations can improve applicants’ perceptions of selection procedures. However, they also suggest that these positive effects do not generalize to ability tests. Given some limitations of previous studies and the small empirical basis for the corresponding meta-analytic results, we had another look at whether perceptions of ability tests can be improved by providing an explanation. In two experimental studies, participants had to complete either an attention or a general mental ability test. In the explanation group, a justification was given concerning the content, relevance, and predictiveness of the test. In contrast, no explanation was given in the control group. Providing an explanation significantly improved test takers’ fairness perceptions.
References
2010). Applicant reactions in selection: Comprehensive meta-analysis into reaction generalization versus situational specificity. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18, 291–304. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2010.00512.x
(1990). Motivational components of test taking. Personnel Psychology, 43, 695–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1990.tb00679.x
(2001). Applicant reactions to selection: Development of the selection procedural justice scale (SPJS). Personnel Psychology, 54, 388–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2001.tb00097.x
(2005). The predictive validity of cognitive ability tests: A UK meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78, 387–409. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317905X26994
(2010). d2-R: Aufmerksamkeits-und Konzentrationstest
([d2-R: Attention and concentration test] . Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.1993). The perceived fairness of selection systems: An organizational justice perspective. Academy of Management Review, 18, 694–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/258595
(2012).
(Applicant reactions to testing and selection . In N. SchmittEd., The Oxford handbook of personnel assessment and selection (pp. 629–666). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.2016). Investigating the effects of applicant justice perceptions on job offer acceptance. Personnel Psychology, 69, 199–227. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12101
(2004). Applicant reactions to selection procedures: An updated model and meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 57, 639–683. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2004.00003.x
(2005). Testing the rules of justice: The effects of frame-of-reference and pre-test validity information on personality test responses and test perceptions. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 13, 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0965-075X.2005.00301.x
(2000). The influence of explanations for selection test use, outcome favorability, and self-efficacy on test-taker perceptions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 83, 310–330. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2000.2911
(1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 72–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.96.1.72
(2008). Zur Akzeptanz von Intelligenz- und Leistungstests
([The acceptance of intelligence and achievement tests] . Report Psychologie, 33, 420–433.2017). Antecedents and consequences of fairness perceptions in personnel selection. Group & Organization Management, 42, 113–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601115617665
(2003). The effect of legitimizing explanations on applicants’ perceptions of selection assessment fairness. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33, 2198–2215. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb01881.x
(2003). Applicant perceptions of selection procedures: The role of selection information, belief in tests, and comparative anxiety. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11, 67–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2389.00227
(2017). Applicant perspectives during selection: A review addressing “So what?”, “What’s new?”, and “Where to next?”. Journal of Management, 43, 1693–1725. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316681846
(2017). Using pre-test explanations to improve test-taker reactions: Testing a set of “wise” interventions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 141, 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp. 2017.04.002
(2011). 10-Minuten-Test
([10-minute test] (Unpublished test). University of Düsseldorf, Germany2009). Instructional manipulation checks: Detecting satisficing to increase statistical power. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 867–872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.03.009
(2011). Der “Analytische Test”: Validierung eines neuen eignungsdiagnostischen Instruments zur Erfassung von schlussfolgerndem Denken
([The Analytical Test: Validation of a new personnel selection tool assessing reasoning] . Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie, 55, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1026/0932-4089/a0000312014). Revisiting the Rybakov figures: A classical and probabilistic analysis of the psychometric properties of a test of spatial visualization. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 73, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000125
(2007). Test-taker reactions to the selection process: Effects of outcome favorability, explanations, and voice on fairness perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 2800–2826. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00282.x
(2004). General mental ability in the world of work: Occupational attainment and job performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 162–173. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.162
(1993). Applicant reactions to selection procedures. Personnel Psychology, 46, 49–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1993.tb00867.x
(2011).
(Applicant reactions to organizations and selection systems . In S. ZedeckEd., APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 379–397). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.2009). Effects of explanations on applicant reactions: A meta-analytic review. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 17, 346–361. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2009.00478.x
(2002). Wonderlic personnel test and scholastic level exam: User’s manual. Libertyville, IL: Author.
. (