The internal structure of situational judgement tests reflects candidate main effects: Not dimensions or situations

Duncan J. R. Jackson, Alexander C. LoPilato, Dan Hughes, Nigel Guenole, Ali Shalfrooshan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite their popularity and capacity to predict performance, there is no clear consensus on the internal measurement characteristics of situational judgement tests (SJTs). Contemporary propositions in the literature focus on treating SJTs as methods, as measures of dimensions, or as measures of situational responses. However, empirical evidence relating to the internal structure of SJT scores is lacking. Using generalizability theory, we decomposed multiple sources of variance for three different SJTs used with different samples of job candidates (N1 = 2,320; N2 = 989; N3 = 7,934). Results consistently indicated that (1) the vast majority of reliable observed score variance reflected SJT‐specific candidate main effects, analogous to a general judgement factor, and that (2) the contribution of dimensions and situations to reliable SJT variance was, in relative terms, negligible. These findings do not align neatly with any of the proposals in the contemporary literature; however, they do suggest an internal structure for SJTs.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-27
JournalJOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume90
Issue number1
Early online date25 Jun 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2017

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