Nontraditional Validity Calculations and Differential Interviewer Experience: Implications for Selection Interviews

Abstract

The traditional way to calculate the criterion-related validity of selection interviews was compared to two nontraditional techniques. College admissions interview ratings were the predictors, and college GPAs were the criteria. Traditional interview-GPA correlations usually were not significant, whereas statistical techniques set forth by Dreher, Ash, and Hancock (1988) and Kenny and La Voie (1985) usually yielded significant validities. The differences were more pronounced when separate analyses were conducted for groups of experienced and inexperienced interviewers. Only the latter ratings provided valid predictors of GPA, and other analyses suggested that the underlying judgments were more complex.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arvey, R. D. and Campion, J. E. (1982). The employment interview: A summary and review of recent research. Personnel Psychology, 35, 281-321.

Brehmer, B. (1986). In one word: Not from experience. In H. R. Arkes and K. R. Hammond (Eds.), Judgment and decision making: An interdisciplinary reader (pp. 707-719). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Dawes, R. M. , Faust, D. , and Meehl, P. E. (1989). Clinical versus actuarial judgment. Science, 243, 1668-1674.

Dreher, G. F. , Ash, R. A. , and Hancock, P. (1988). The role of the traditional research design in underestimating the validity of the employment interview. Personnel Psychology, 41, 315-327.

Einhorn, H. J. and Hogarth, R. M. (1978). Confidence in judgment: Persistence of the Illusion of Validity. Psychological Review, 85, 395-416.

Gordon, R. A. , Rozelle, R. M. , and Baxter, J. C. (1988). The effect of applicant age, job level, and accountability on the evaluation of job applicants. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 41, 20-33.

Guion, R. M. and Gibson, W. M. (1988). Personnel selection and placement. In M. R. Rosenzweig and L. W. Porter (Eds.) Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 39. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews, Inc.

Hakel, M. D. , Dobmeyer, T. W. , and Dunnette, M. D. (1970). Relative importance of three content dimensions on overall suitability ratings of job applicants' resumes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 54, 65-71.

Heneman, H. G. , Schwab, D. P. , Huett, D. L. , and Ford, J. J. (1975). Interviewer validity as a function of interview structure, biographical data, and interviewee order. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 748-753.

10.

Keenan, A. (1978). Selection interview outcomes in relation to interviewer training and experience. The Journal of Social Psychology, 106, 249-260.

11.

Kenny, D. A. and La Voie, L. (1985). Separating individual and group effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 339-348.

12.

McDaniel, M. A. , Whetzel, D. L. , Schmidt, F. L. , Hunter, J. E. , Maurer, S. , and Russell, J. (1987). The validity of employment interviews: A review and meta-analysis. Unpublished manuscript.

13.

Pedhazur, E. J. (1982). Multiple regression in behavioral research. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

14.

SAS Institute, Inc. (1985). SAS user's guide: Statistics, version 5. Cary, NC: Author.

15.

Shahani, C. , Dipboye, R. L. , and Gehrlein, T. M. (1991). The incremental contribution of an interview to college admissions. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 51, 1049-1061.

16.

Wiesner, W. H. and Cronshaw, S. F. (1988). A meta-analytic investigation of the impact of interview format and degree of structure on the validity of the employment interview. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 61, 275-290.