Assessing Ideal Personalities at Work: Is it all Just a Little Bit of History Repeating?

Abstract

Melson-Silimon and colleagues (2018) raise an important issue that IO psychologists should take seriously: as we integrate normal and abnormal personality models, we may find thatpersonality assessments adversely impact the mentally disabled. Though not mentioned by Melson-Silimon and colleagues, this is a criticism of the personality testing enterprise that has been ongoing since its inception in the early 20th century. With our commentary, we call attention to this history, discuss whether personality testing adversely affects the mentally disabled, and discuss the strategic role IO psychologists play in this enterprise.

Publication
In Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice (IOP)
Date