At other locations on this
WEB site we promote the use of structured interviews when seeking
to make selection decisions that have the best chance of predicting
future success on the job. This article offers a different perspective:
the use of individual psychological assessments in hiring and
promotion decisions.
Scott Highhouse provides an interesting
and informative history of the use of individual psychological
assessment. He defines this type of assessment as,
... loosely defined set of procedures,
similar to practices developed and performed in clinical and
counseling settings, used to make recommendations for higher
level hires.
It has been commonly practiced in industry
to assess the candidate holistically, and, according to the author,
has received little attention from textbooks on industrial psychology
or personnel management.
Individual assessment differs from traditional
personnel selection in that it typically relies heavily upon
psychological measures and unstructured interviews, and data
are often integrated via clinical intuition. (Ryan and Sackett,
1998)
Much work was done in this area by psychologists
and psychiatrists in Germany, England, and the US during World
War II. In Germany, Max Simoneit, the "dean" of military
psychology, worked on identifying the German character. He was
influenced by Ludwig Klages, who had a special interest in handwriting
analysis, and Philipp Lersch, who studied facial expressions.
Simoneit's assessment of officer candidate character was composed
of intelligence analysis, action analysis, expressive analysis,
and a live history interview. Highhouse discusses each aspect
in his article.
In England, the Tavistock Group, emphasized
social psychology and role-play. Leaderless groups were given
a particular task to discuss, or perform, such as the building
of a makeshift bridge for crossing a body of water. W. R. Bion
was particularly interested in the quality of the candidates'
social relationships.
In the United States, the Officer of Strategic
Services program was used to select spies and saboteurs. Highhouse
refers to these individuals as "cloak and dagger types."
Psychologists chosen to head up this selection process. For example,
Henry Murray utilized the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). He
called for a subjective diagnosis of personality. All candidates
were evaluated on the basis of projective tests and improvisation.
They were also given an assumed identity and then interrogated,
and evaluated on their ability to retain this identity under
stress.
The use of projective tests was continued
after World War II. These procedures were used in England, the
US, and Australia. Other tests used in the US were the Tomkins
Horn Picture Arrangement Test, word association tests, the Rorschach,
the Draw a Man test, and the TAT. Standard Oil of New Jersey
and Sears Roebuck were two leaders in this field.
The term "Assessment Center Movement"
was first used in 1966 after a Management Progress Study conducted
by AT &T. It was influenced by work carried out during World
War II and deviated from the holistic approach, in that it emphasized
standardization.
Although individual assessment remained
outside of the field of personnel psychology for nearly two decades,
it was rediscovered in a series of articles by Ryan and Sackett
in 1987, 1989, and 1992. Highhouse mentions two books published
on individual assessment in the 1990s, by Hansen and Conrad and
Jeanneret and Silzer. In the final section of the article, he
reviews the practices and assumptions of individual assessment,
particularly holistic methods. He emphasizes that along with
the assessment, the psychologist should include a hiring recommendation.
Finally, Highhouse states that very little
research has been done on the efficacy of individual assessment
practices. However, workshops on the practice continue to be
conducted at conferences for the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychologists. Practitioners continue to flood into the area
with little or no training. Highhouse calls for more research,
and more accountability.