APPLICANT WITHDRAWAL: THE ROLE OF TEST-TAKING ATTITUDES AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES

The role of test‐taking attitudes in the decisions of applicants to withdraw from a selection process was examined. Measures of test‐taking attitudes were administered to 3,290 police officer applicants. Interviews were conducted with 618 applicants who withdrew from the selection process. Comparati...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personnel psychology 1997-12, Vol.50 (4), p.855-876
Main Authors: SCHMIT, MARK J., RYAN, ANN MARIE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability tests
African Americans
Anxiety
Applicants
Attitudes
Cognitive ability
Cognitive Tests
College students
Dropouts
Employee testing
Employment
Hypotheses
Job Applicants
Minority Groups
Negative Attitudes
Personality Measures
Personality tests
Preemployment screening
Psychological tests
Race
Racial Differences
Recruitment
Simulation
Studies
Test Anxiety
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The role of test‐taking attitudes in the decisions of applicants to withdraw from a selection process was examined. Measures of test‐taking attitudes were administered to 3,290 police officer applicants. Interviews were conducted with 618 applicants who withdrew from the selection process. Comparative anxiety, motivation, and literacy scales were found to predict withdrawal, but the effects were quite small. African‐Americans were more likely to withdraw. Small race differences were found on test attitude scales. The requirement of taking a test was not a major factor in applicant withdrawal; procedural fairness and several other factors appeared to play a greater role. A model of applicant withdrawal is proposed based on the qualitative data from applicants who withdrew.
ISSN:0031-5826
1744-6570
DOI:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1997.tb01485.x