Effects of Individual Differences on the Perceived Job Relatedness of a Cognitive Ability Test and a Multimedia Situational Judgment Test

Although there is a growing number of publications concerning applicant reactions to different selection instruments, the relationships between individual differences and applicant reactions have largely remained unexplored. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of several testing‐...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of selection and assessment 2010-12, Vol.18 (4), p.394-406
Main Authors: Oostrom, Janneke K., Born, Marise Ph, Serlie, Alec W., Van Der Molen, Henk T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability tests
Anxiety
Applicants
Cognitive ability
Computers
Emotions
Multimedia
Perceptions
Personality
Preemployment screening
Psychology
Self evaluation
Studies
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Summary:Although there is a growing number of publications concerning applicant reactions to different selection instruments, the relationships between individual differences and applicant reactions have largely remained unexplored. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of several testing‐related and general individual differences (anxiety, self‐evaluations, and personality) on the most commonly studied dimension of applicant reactions, namely the perceived job relatedness of selection instruments. Participants were 153 psychology students, who completed a cognitive ability test and a multimedia situational judgment test as part of their educational program. Our results indicated that computer anxiety negatively affected perceived job relatedness and core self‐evaluations, subjective well‐being, agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness to experience positively affected perceived job relatedness. Openness to experience was the most consistent predictor of perceived job relatedness. The results of our study suggest that certain individuals may be more predisposed to react positively to selection instruments. Therefore, we concluded that the nature of the applicant pool should be carefully considered when designing interventions to improve applicant reactions.
ISSN:0965-075X
1468-2389
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2389.2010.00521.x