An Examination of the Construct Validity of Personality-Based and Overt Measures of Integrity

Abstract

Interest in integrity testing has grown extensively in recent years. A number of tests have been published designed to measure aspects of what has been variously termed honesty, delinquency, conscientiousness, and reliability. Many of these measures bear very close resemblance to one another and to mainstream personality scales whose publication dates stretch back some 40 years. In the present study, the authors examined the construct validity of four integrity tests. These four tests, along with selected scales from three large-scale personality inventories, were administered to 289 university undergraduate students. Statistically significant convergence among the so-called personality-based integrity scales was found. Coefficients ranged from .33 to .70. Although significant correlation was obtained between the overt and the personality-based measures, results of a factor analysis suggested a single factor unifying the personality-based integrity tests, as distinct from that accounting for the overt measure.

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