Conceptual and methodological advances on both the predictor and criterion
side and several influential meta-analytic reviews have contributed to a resur
gence of credibility for personality as a predictor in employee selection. This
paper reviews the prior problems with personality as a predictor, summarizes
research findings on the effectiveness of personality in selection, and lays out
the circumstances under which personality measures are most likely to be
useful. The most consistent findings are that personality measures such as
integrity and conscientiousness predict contextual and motivational aspects
of performance reasonably well. Suggestions for future research on personality
in selection are made, and human resource management implications of
personality-based selection are discussed.
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